dream chasers chapter 1
by luvwrestlinfangurl
Summary: nct we the dream chasers
1. Chapter 1

**so for those of you that read my deleted fanfic neo culture technology, this is pretty much the same storyline, tweaked a little. i don't really know what to name this** **fanfic, so this is what it's called for now. please suggest ideas for what i should name this or if i should just leave it like this.**

 **basically, this fic is set in an alternate reality where kpop idols are businessmen and their comebacks and stuff are products which people go crazy over. jisung is a huge fan of these businessmen and he really wants to become one one day.**

* * *

"My co-workers are a bunch of assholes." Jisung grumbled.

Jaehyun sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You said that about fifteen times tonight, Jisung."

"It's true!"

"Well then, tell your boss. Or the person who's handling your internship."

Jisung glared at him with one eye. Jaehyun had chocolate brown eyes and his brown hair was swept to the side in an extremely attractive manner, looking every bit the rugged, handsome college student that he was. His steadfast, calm yet smoldering gaze caused every college girl to swoon as he glanced at Jisung with an amused twinkle in his eyes.

Jisung was only twelve going on thirteen, but he had to take an internship to earn money for his family. Jaehyun was quite a bit older- and he was already venturing out into the working world.

"What internship are you working on, hyung?" Jisung took a gulp of apple juice.

"Well, it's not an internship. I actually work there."

Jisung raised his eyebrows. "What do you do?"

"Some office stuff."

"What kind of office stuff?"

"Just- stuff." Jaehyun stood up abruptly. "I got to go. Bye, Jisung."

"Bye."

* * *

Jisung checked the address on his phone. Yes, this alleyway was the correct one. But where was Jaehyun? He had asked his hyung to meet him to do their homework together after work.

His hyung had agreed, telling him that he would meet him during his lunch break near his office in the alleyway. But his hyung hadn't showed up yet and now it was starting to drizzle.

Jisung texted Jaehyun again. _Where are you, hyung? It's starting to rain!_

His phone beeped as Jaehyun answered. _I got loaded with work. I'll meet you there as soon as I can. Go and get shelter in the building on the right of the alley._

Jisung growled. The rain was pelting down now and his phone screen was getting wet. He blinked through his wet fringe and glanced around at the buildings. He wasn't sure which right his hyung meant.

How would Jaehyun know where he had entered the alley? Where was his right?

Argh, his hyung was so confusing! He looked around again. There was a white building and a mall near the alley.

Which one should he go into? He made a split second decision and dashed into the white building on what he thought was the right of the alley.

He blinked as a wave of heat hit him. There was a cozy fireplace at the end of the room. Plush, white couches surrounded the fireplace, covered with cream and pink cushions. Several doorways opened off from the sides of the room.

The walls and ceiling were pristine and white-tiled and there was a woman dressed in white sitting at a desk. She looked at him over her glasses and surveyed him up and down.

Jisung smiled ruefully at her. He knew he must look a sight, sopping wet and dripping water onto the tiles. "Hi, sorry, I'm supposed to meet my friend here."

"I see." she said coolly. "May I know who your friend is?"

"Uh, Jaehyun. Jung Jaehyun."

"Oh, well that's all right then," she said, her frosty demeanour melting slightly. "Would you like me to give him a call?"

"No, it's all right." Jisung replied quickly, remembering what his friend had said about being loaded with work. "I don't want to disturb him."

"Very well then. Perhaps you'd like to wait? Would you like a towel?"

Jisung moved forward to take the fluffy white towel with a nod of thanks. He went over to the sofa, but didn't sit down, worried of spoiling the expensive-looking leather.

He toweled dry his wet hair as the fire warmed him, taking off his blazer and trying to dry it using the heat from the fire. When he looked around, he saw that there was a woman wearing a white coat mopping the wet spots that he'd left on the floor.

He felt bad and just as he was going to text Jaehyun, a man wearing a white lab coat like the type that doctors wear came out through one of the closed doors. He carried in his hand a sheaf of papers which he passed to the the woman at the counter, saying, "Here you are, you know what to do with them-"

Jisung gasped out loud. The man was Kim Doyoung, one of the newest rookies in the business. He was part of one of the top companies and had recently debuted with a group called NCT U. Their debut product had been labelled "The Seventh Sense" and it had a dreamy, mysterious quality to it. Admittedly, Jisung hadn't yet checked them out, but his classmates had been discussing the product lately and one of his female friends had gotten Doyoung's photocard and she was squealing about how hot he was.

Hearing the noise, Doyoung looked up and saw Jisung watching him. He had a long, angular face, a straight nose and defined cheekbones which made him look dignified. His pale skin, dark eyes, thin, sallow cheeks, pursed lips and carefully styled coal-black hair suited him. Jisung would be lying if he said he wasn't handsome.

Jisung noticed that his hands were long, slender and graceful as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Y-you're Kim Doyoung." Jisung stammered, mentally cursing himself for being so awkward.

Doyoung looked surprised. "You know who I am?"

"You're in NCT U." Jisung blurted out.

"You've seen our product?"

"Well- yeah."

"What do you think?"

"Um-mm, it's g-great, really great!"

All of a sudden one of the doors burst open and Jaehyun flew out, throwing a brown jacket over his white lab coat which somehow- _melted_ into a shirt and pants.

"Miss Kwon, would you tell them for me that I have to go and meet someone?" he said as he crossed the room.

"Will do-"

"Hyung!" Jisung started in surprise. Jaehyun was working with Kim Doyoung?

Jaehyun stopped dead in his tracks. He turned to look at Jisung, his mouth dropped open in shock. "J-Jisung?" he stuttered. What are you doing here?"

"Uh, this is where you told me to wait?"

"No! I told you to go to the building on the right!" In a few strides, Jaehyun had walked across to Jisung, frowning. "Ah, I didn't want you to see this. Jisung, do you know who he is?" he gestured to Doyoung.

"Yes."

Jaehyun mumbled a curse and slapped his forehead. After a short pause, he shook his head and laughed. "Well, I guess my secret's out now. You caught me. I'm working under SM."

"YOU'RE WORKING-" Jisung lowered his voice apologetically, "You're a trainee? And you didn't tell me?"

Jaehyun winced. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"Excuse me," Doyoung cut in. "Do you mind if you take this outside? He's not supposed to be in here." he added to Jaehyun who nodded immediately.

"Okay, Jisung, come on, let's get outside, all right?"

Jisung looked around the whole room with wide eyes. He had never before been in a big company building. He so desperately wanted to explore, but Jaehyun started pushing him away.

"Come on, Jisung!"

"Hyung, can I see the building?" The words were out of Jisung's mouth before he could register them.

Jaehyun eyes opened wide with shock and Doyoung started. Even the receptionist paused in her typing.

"Jisung!" Jaehyun said in a scandalised tone.

Jisung swallowed. "Can I?"

"This building is strictly off-limits!" Jaehyun scolded. "I can't believe you would ask that!"

"Oh hyung, please?"

Jaehyun shook his head. "No, no, no and no. Come on now, we're going." He said it so firmly that Jisung knew there would be no argument.

Doyoung nodded politely as Jaehyun steered Jisung out of the building.

* * *

The next day, as Jisung and Jaehyun were doing their homework, Jisung glanced up at Jaehyun. Jaehyun was wearing a baseball cap over his head and at his insistence, Jisung was wearing one too.

"Don't wanna sound like I'm bragging," Jaehyun had said, "But you _have_ seen what happens to businessman when they get famous, right?"

Jisung had nodded, recalling witnessing huge mobs along the street when a popular businessman appeared. He wasn't keen to be a part of a screaming, suffocating crowd of people all intent on getting close to the businessman.

After yesterday's incident, Jisung had gone home to research NCT U and true enough, he had found Jaehyun and Doyoung inside. The video that they had made to describe their product was quite different from the normal ones he saw; deep and mysterious with a dream-like quality.

Within a few hours, Jisung had learned the names of all the members and he couldn't believe that he knew two of them. Both of them looked so different with all their makeup on. Of course in real life, they were both very handsome, but they looked almost ethreal with makeup on.

After a few hours on intense stalking, Jisung had become a major fan and he wished he could buy their product. As he scrolled through the comments, he saw many of them were talking about how good Jaehyun looked and he felt incredibly proud that he knew him.

He found Ten a very good dancer, Doyoung rather cool and calculating, Mark entertaining and talented, especially unbelievably because he was only three years older than Jisung and Jaehyun, of course, was Jaehyun. However, he found himself most starstruck by Taeyong. His face was so gorgeous it looked sculpted and unreal and when he looked at the camera with his regal gaze, Jisung felt his heart flutter.

"Hyung," he murmured tentatively.

"Mhm?"

"Look I know what you said-"

"No."

"You didn't know what I was going to say!"

 _"Hyung, can I please visit your office building?"_ Jaehyun picked up his notes and studied them.

"Yes?"

" _No._ "

"Why?"

"Jisung-" Jaehyun began sternly but Jisung interrupted him.

"I can't believe you work with Taeyong! And Mark! And Ten! And Doyoung!"

"Shut up!" Jaehyun hissed, pulling his cap lower over his face and glancing around warily.

"Have you met Shinee? Or Exo? Or Super Junior? Or Red Velvet? Or F(x)? Or-"

"Be quiet! I mean it!" At that moment, two teenage girls appeared at their table, blushing furiously. Jisung immediately slid out of his seat, pulling his cap over his head and his coat collar higher to cover his face.

They had prearranged that if any fans came over to talk to Jaehyun, Jisung would immediately leave the shop and meet him in the alley next to his office.

As Jisung was texting Jaehyun to see when he would arrive, he saw someone wearing a navy blue hoodie, the hood pulled low and a mask obscuring his face. Even though the curly dark hair was mostly covered and his face was hidden, Jisung recognised him almost immediately.

Not knowing how to address him, Jisung yelled, "hey!" and jogged towards him.

Doyoung half turned, his backpack sliding off his shoulder.

"I-I'm Jisung," Jisung stammered. "Jaehyun's friend, we met yesterday?"

"Oh." Doyoung nodded, "Yes, I remember. Are you looking for Jaehyun?"

"No, I mean yes, I mean- I'm a really big fan of NCT U." Jisung blurted out.

Doyoung's dark eyes softened. "Thank you,"

"I would love to see your workplace-"

"I'm sorry, that's not possible." Doyoung hoisted his backpack up on his shoulder. "Are you waiting for Jaehyun?"

"Yes-"

At that moment, Jaehyun came racing into view. A whole horde of teenage girls were rushing after him, carrying notebooks and pens and their product.

As he ran past them, Jaehyun grabbed Jisung and Doyoung by the elbows and pulled them into the office, the doors automatically locking behind them.

"Phew!" Jaehyun wiped his brow. "I didn't know I could run that fast!"

Doyoung eyed the crowd outside pressing against the glass windows. "You're lucky you did,"

Jisung immediately saw his opportunity. "Oh, hyung, you can't possibly let me back out into that mob!"

"I know."

"So, while I'm here, it makes sense that I see your office right?"

"I can't believe-" Jaehyun stopped mid-sentence and started laughing. "You really don't give up, huh? Well, I suppose-"

"Come on, Jae," Doyoung whispered into his ear. Jaehyun whispered back and then Doyoung frowned and muttered something else. Then Jaehyun said something and Doyoung heaved a sigh of defeat.

"Yay!" Jisung threw his cap in the air.

* * *

 **so yallz, what do you think? review and let me know!**

 **luv you guys!**

 **luv_wrestlin_fan_gurl**

 **edit: so I kind of reconstructed this fanfic to make sense, and don't worry, it's roughly the same storyline, but for those of you that have been with this fanfic since the first chapter, I strongly advise you read the first few parts again otherwise you may not understand where I'm going in the next few chapters.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I just came back from Slovakia for competition yeet. i'm sooo tired; i still have jet lag and there's so much homework i have to finish ugh**

* * *

"We'll just keep this super quiet though, all right?" Jaehyun told Jisung, leading him through one of the doors off to the side and dragging him down a long, white hallway.

Doyoung placed his hand on the wall. He removed something and tapped Jisung's wrist, leaving no visible mark. "Visitor's pass." he said. "Or you'll get incinerated by the walls."

"Are you joking?" Jisung asked in astonishment.

A flicker of a smile appeared on Doyoung's face. "No, there are hydronickle sensors which trigger the paranormality of-" he stopped when he saw the confusion on Jisung's face. "There are sensors along the walls, so if you aren't registered inside our building system, you will find yourself subject to some very unpleasant experiences. If you have the visitor's pass, then you can go around without going through that. It will erase itself once you leave the building."

"That's awesome!"

"Thank you." Doyoung veered through several twisting corridors with Jaehyun following behind.

After a while, he held up his wrist to the wall and something that looked like a ray shield- like those that you see in movies to prevent people from going through- popped up. Doyoung wrote something on it with his finger and it turned red.

Jaehyun took Jisung's hand. "You have to hold on to me, or you'll get electrocuted."

Jisung shivered and squeezed Jaehyun's fingers as they stepped through the ray shield. It felt like a thin sheet of gauze but when they passed through on the other side, he stared as he saw that they weren't in the blinding white hallway anymore.

They were now in a hallway the same colour as the ray shield, a bright red. Both Doyoung and Jaehyun were now wearing lab coats the colour of the walls, Jaehyun having discarded his brown jacket.

"So cool!"

"Keep the fanboying to a minimum," Jaehyun murmured but Jisung could tell he didn't mind.

"Can I meet Taeyong? And Ten? And Mark?" Jisung asked excitedly.

Doyoung and Jaehyun looked at each other.

"I guess so," Doyoung shrugged. "But just keep this under wraps, okay? Don't tell anyone, and I mean _anyone._ Everyone will bug you to introduce them to us and your life will change completely and not in a good way either."

"Doyoung's right," Jaehyun said seriously. "What we show you here is only because you're my friend. If you blurt it out to people, I'm afraid I have to cut ties with you, Jisung."

Jisung gaped, his mouth wide open. It sounded so ridiculous, he couldn't help laughing. "Jae! You wouldn't!"

"I would." Jaehyun looked him in the eye. "But I don't want to, so don't make me."

With that, he led the way down the corridors and went in through a door which had been cleverly painted to blend in with the background so that you wouldn't notice it.

The room they entered was warm and cosy, with a fireplace at the end and squashy armchairs, beanbags and sofas placed all over the room. The floor was thick and carpeted and felt soft under his feet.

Settled near the fireplace in the most comfortable chairs sat a few people.

"Hi, hyung!" one of them called brightly.

"Hello, Haechan." Doyoung steered Jisung towards them.

It was hard to see in the dim glow of the room, but the person whom Doyoung had called looked much younger than the others sitting next to him. He had a bright smile on his face- that much was visible- which he directed at Jisung.

The other three all looked about Doyoung and Jaehyun's age. One had curly black hair- it was hard to tell- and he was lounging in an armchair. He looked the oldest and had an air of maturity about him.

The person sitting next to Haechan on the couch looked to have blond hair, though that may have just been because of the flickering light from the flames, and he inclined his head at Jisung.

The last person was sitting on another armchair, one close to the fireplace, so that the firelight splayed on his face, allowing Jisung to see his perfect features clearly. He had a straight nose and intense dark eyes. His cheekbones were incredibly prominent, as was his jawline as he sat observing Jisung. Dark hair was cut back in a choppy hairstyle across his forehead and he looked like a combination of an angel sent from heaven and a bad boy from who know's where. He stared at Jisung with that smoking gaze, his face looking even more chiselled and sexy in the firelight.

"Yet another person falling for Lee Taeyong's perfect charms." someone called out jokingly.

Jisung blushed, struggling to keep from screaming as he recognised Taeyong's handsome face turn smoothly towards him.

"This is Park Jisung." Jaehyun introduced.

The one who looked the oldest sat up straighter. "Jisung, your friend? Hello, Jisung. I'm Moon Taeil,"

"I'm Yuta." the blond guy introduced himself.

"Johnny."

"Lee Taeyong."

"I-I know," Jisung stammered, putting his hands over his mouth to control himself. "I'm such a fan!"

"Oh," Yuta sighed, leaning back into the couch. "Not again."

Taeyong shot him a look as he nodded politely at Jisung. "Thank you, it's always nice to meet fans."

"Why'd you bring him in here, hyung?" Haechan asked.

"He's a really good friend of mine," Surprisingly, Jaehyun addressed his answer to Taeyong instead of Haechan. "He's really good at keeping secrets. Plus, there was a mob out there and I couldn't leave him to-"

"All right, relax, Jae," Taeyong waved a hand at him. "Doyoung?"

Doyoung went over and whispered into his ear.

Taeyong smiled at Jisung. "In that case, I'm sure it's fine. Welcome, Jisung!"

"Thank you!" Jisung squeaked, barely believing what was happening. "C-Can I get your autograph?"

Taeyong looked surprised yet gratified. "Oh… sure,"

* * *

As Doyoung finished signing, a short-haired woman with thick glasses poked her head around the door. "Taeyong-ssi, reminder from Jungwoo-ssi; there's a dress fitting at 3 o'clock."

Taeyong sighed, "Thank you, Ms Fay,"

The woman nodded and was about to leave when she spotted Jisung. "Who's that?"

"Jaehyun's very _very_ good friend," Taeyong answered smoothly. "He's trustworthy, Ms Fay."

She eyed him beadily. "Jaehyun-ssi, I expected better from you! You know I'll have to tell your manager."

"Please, Ms Fay," Jaehyun begged, "Don't tell! He won't say a word, I swear! There was a crowd outside and they would have mobbed him!"

Ms Fay frowned and beckoned Jaehyun and Taeyong out of the room.

"Don't worry," Taeil reassured Jisung. "Ms Fay won't tell on you."

Jisung relaxed slightly. "Are- are you friends too?"

Yuta coughed loudly and Taeil frowned at him. "Yes, in a way."

"We're debuting too," Haechan piped up. "In a different subunit!"

"Haechan!" Taeil said reprovingly.

"Wow! That's so cool!" Jisung gasped, staring closely at each of their faces to memorise them. "Can I have your autographs too?"

"Sure!" Haechan, whom Jisung suspected had been looking forward to this, bounded over the couch and grabbed his pen. As he signed, Jisung studied his face closely. On observation, Haechan looked younger than he had originally thought; maybe only two years older than Jisung himself.

"What will your subunit be called?" Jisung asked curiously.

"Oh-" Haechan started but Taeil cut him off.

"Sorry, we can't say."

At that moment, Jaehyun, Taeyong and the lady, Ms Fay reentered the room.

"Please fill up this form," she said coolly, handing a piece of paper to Jisung.

Jisung scanned it. It looked like a simple non-disclosure agreement. His eyes travelled down the paper and grew wide when he reached the last line.

"T-two thousand dollars?" he spluttered.

"Why yes, that's the amount you'll have to pay if you violate the terms of this agreement." Ms Fay said calmly, adjusting her glasses. "Revealing any inside information in any way; providing outsiders with access; harassing our employees or clients-"

"He gets it, Ms Fay." Jaehyun said quickly, "It allows you to visit us, Jisung, but you have to keep quiet about everything, okay? Or-" he motioned to the enormous sum of money at the bottom.

"What if it's an accident?" Jisung stammered. "Like if I'm drunk-"

"We still treat it the same way and you're not old enough to drink yet anyway." Jaehyun rolled his eyes. "But there's other good stuff too! Ms Fay says you'll be allowed an office tour tomorrow,"

"Cool!" Jisung couldn't believe his ears. This was a dream come true.

* * *

 **yesss! another revamped chapter done! i'm going to india at the end of the month and i'll try to squeeze out several more chapters before then. please comment!**

 **luv you guys!**

 **luv_wrestlin_fan_gurl**


	3. Chapter 3

**yay! I managed to update before I went on holiday! I'm going on holiday until 20th of December, so don't expect any new updates until then for any of my stories. thanks so much hopebel for reviewing and saying that you can't wait for chapter 3. well here it is, hope you like it!**

 **edit: this chapter had been revamped!**

* * *

Right after school, Jisung was standing outside the doors of NCT's building, waiting eagerly. He'd only been standing there a few minutes before the receptionist, Ms Kwon, opened the door.

"Mr Park?"

"That's me!" Jisung raised his hand excitedly.

"Come in, sir, there's someone waiting to give you a tour."

Jisung bounded in happily, and the first face he saw made him drop his bag. "No way."

Sitting on one of the white couches was a very American-looking teenager. He was wearing a floppy beret on top of his dark hair and fiddling with his lab coat.

Looking up as Jisung awkwardly approached, he smiled uncomfortably. "Hi, are you Jisung?" his accent was indeed American, but he spoke Korean well, with none of the hesitation or awkwardness Jisung's foreign friends displayed.

"Y-Yeah." Jisung gulped, trying hard not to stammer. "You're Mark," he added stupidly, then cursed himself inwardly.

Mark looked surprised. "You know who I am?"

"Yeah, of course!" Jisung thrust his notepad at him. "Can I get an autograph?" He looked over his shoulder as Ms Kwon came over, frowning. "This isn't harassment, Ms, I promise!" he reassured her hastily. "Don't worry, I'm not breaking the agreement!"

Mark chuckled as he took the pen. "They got you to sign that, did they?"

* * *

"I'll show you the 127 section first." Mark led him down the red corridors he'd been through the day before.

"What's 127?" Jisung asked breathlessly.

Mark hesitated. "Uh… it's a new subunit that we will be debuting soon. The U members will be inside except some, and some new members will be debuting like the ones you met yesterday."

"This is Taeil-hyung's study." He stopped at a section of wall that to Jisung looked exactly the same as any other wall section. He paused, "Taeil-hyung said he met you yesterday?"

Jisung thought a while. "I think so,"

Mark knocked on the study door.

A voice called "Come in!"

"Hi Taeil-hyung, I'm giving Jisung the tour." Mark opened the door. Jisung peeped in and his jaw dropped.

Taeil's study walls had been painted white and there was an incredibly soft carpet underfoot covering most of the polished brown wood. There was another pearl white rug half-covering a plush cushion on an alcove seat under the window.

Opposite the door was a bookshelf built next to the alcove where heavy scrapbooks, big sketching pads and notebooks of every size and colour were piled messily on the shelves. Next to the bookshelf, a gorgeous nutty-brown block of wood had been fashioned in such a way that the front had been carved out, leaving space for more thick books. On the desk was a grey mug that held several paintbrushes, pencils, scissors, rulers etc. etc.

A painting of a Japanese cherry blossom tree hung on the wall behind the desk. There were two more bookshelves sculpted into the wall next to it. One housed a store of large tin cans of paint and the other was heaped messily with scraps of fabric, spools of thread, pieces of wood with interesting patterns and so much more.

A fir green armchair patterned with white feathery swirls sat in the corner and there was a comfortable looking white armchair in front of the desk. Taeil sat at the desk, busily sketching away on a big pad of paper.

"Hello, Mark. Jisung," he smiled warmly.

Jisung waved back shyly.

"What are you doing, hyung?"

"I'm creating a design for this layout." Taeil held up the sketchbook for Jisung to see.

"Taeil-hyung does interior designing." Mark explained.

Taeil had a blueprint of a room next to his sketchbook and he had traced the blueprint exactly onto the paper. Now he was sketching a bookshelf next to the bed and writing down measurements in a small notebook.

"This customer wants her bedroom 'totally redecorated'." Taeil sighed, "But she's paying a hefty sum, so I'm not complaining."

"Right, we won't disturb you anymore, hyung." Mark gestured to Jisung. "Come on, let's go,"

"Bye!" Taeil called as they left.

* * *

"I don't think Yuta-hyung is in," Mark remarked, frowning at the wall. "Oh well, I don't think we should go in when he's not there. He might have a project left unfinished that might explode in our faces the second we step through the door."

* * *

"Hmm, Haechan doesn't seem to be in either." Mark shrugged, "He could be in another unit. They're debuting too,"

"Another one?" Jisung could barely contain his excitement.

"Yeah, it's for under-aged members of NCT only." Mark explained, "You've seen the lounge room, right?"

"Uh…"

"The room where you first met Taeyong-hyung, Taeil-hyung, Yuta-hyung, Haechan…" Mark said patiently.

"Oh. Do you guys go there a lot?"

"You know like in school you have scheduled break times right? Yeah, we go there during our breaks because we believe that team bonding and spending time together is just as important. Lunch and dinner are also within a scheduled time. Free time too. Our sleep schedule is controlled as well,"

Jisung looked at him, startled. He'd known businessmen had their lives controlled an awful lot, but had no idea it was to this extent. "That sounds awful!"

"Well, our brand controls us a lot. But they're only doing it because it's what's best for us." Mark didn't sound convinced as he ventured further down the corridor and tapped a section of wall. "This is our 127 dorm."

There were 3 bunk beds and a small twin bed crammed into the room. An enormous cupboard occupied nearly one whole wall and there were several chests of drawers next to the bunks. The paint on the walls was a dull grey and there was a worn carpet on the floor.

To be honest, it reminded Jisung of a school dorm. The space was neat and clean, but there was no personality at all in the room, unlike their colourful and reflective studies. It was as if they had put all their effort into making their workspaces look good but really hadn't bothered with their sleeping area.

"It looks like crap, I know." Mark sniffed at shabby paintwork. "Our company didn't give us much budget for our dorm room. Plus, we don't have time to decorate our dorm. Besides, it's the least of our worries. We don't spend that much time here anyway. Taeil-hyung said one day he'll help design all our dorms, but he doesn't have the time." Mark shrugged, "We don't really mind anyway."

"Do you all sleep in your dorms?" Jisung asked timidly.

"Yeah, most of us do."

"What about your home?"

Mark gave him an odd look. "This is our home now."

* * *

Jisung took a look around the room. Their eating area looked similar to the lounge area, with brick wallpaper pasted on the walls and an unlit fireplace in the corner. Round wooden tables were scattered around the room and Jisung was afraid to step on the polished parquet floor lest he scratch it. Light streamed in from the windows, enhancing the Scottish restaurant vibe.

"Why do you need so many tables?" he wanted to know.

Mark took a look inside the room and shrugged. "Who knows? Each unit has their own eating room too. I guess the management thinks we'll one day have this many people."

* * *

 **hope y'all enjoyed reading! remember to review and feel free to talk to me anytime; I love to hear from you guys!**

 **luv you guys!**

 **luv_wrestlin_fan_gurl**

 **edit: gah, I can't believe I got this out so fast! Please keep supporting; I'll try and add the other revamped versions soon!**


	4. Chapter 4

**hi y'all, I'm back! sorry i took so long! hi hopebl, thanks for reviewing and reminding me to get off my ass and finish this.**

 **edit: here's the next revamped chapter y'all! sorry this took a while but i just came back from India for competition. the weather's really nice and i wish i stayed there longer gah**

* * *

"Here's the U section," Mark led him down a corridor painted a beautiful blue mysterious blue after passing through a ray shield the same colour. "I'll bring you to Ten's first."

There was a desk in the middle of the room as well as two long tables lining the sides of the room with a sofa by the window. On the desks, there were beautifully cut jewels resting on cushions of red velvet, encased by glass covers with a spotlight shining down on them, causing them to twinkle and sparkle.

Big heavy leather books embossed with gold lettering and a similar cushion of red velvet lay in front of the glass casing. Tools were neatly placed on the red velvet and there, flipping through some of the thick, heavily-cut pages of a book, was a spiky, dark-haired guy who Jisung recognised instantaneously. The sides of his head were shaved and the top part of his hair was choppy and shaped forward like an arrow. He was wearing glasses and making notes and annotations in the book, a chain dangling from one ear.

"Ten-hyung." Mark called.

The guy turned and slid his glasses down the bridge of nose. "Yes, hyung?" he didn't sound particularly friendly. "What's he doing here?"

"This is Jisung, hyung. He's Jaehyun's friend; you know the one."

"Oh," Ten took off his glasses to look at Jisung properly. He looked even more dashing in real life; his hair was ruffled just the right amount to be cool and some parts were gelled into spikes.

"I'm a big fan!" Jisung blurted out, thrusting his pen at Ten, "Do you mind signing?"

Ten looked surprised but gratfied as he signed. "Thanks,"

* * *

"I'll bring you to Doyoung's next. Oh, but I don't think he'll be in now; he usually has a class around this time."

"Oh…" Jisung couldn't hide his disappointment.

"Well, maybe he will be." Mark knocked smartly.

"Come in."

Mark raised his eyebrows at Jisung. "Looks like he _is_ in. Huh."

He pushed open the door. The walls were painted a beige yellow and there were sections marked out along the tables for string instruments, woodwind and more. Clear files were placed on the two tables along the walls, labelled neatly with the names of instruments. A computer whirred at each table.

"Doyoung-hyung?" Mark called.

"In here, Mark."

Mark walked through Doyoung's study and pushed through a side door. Soft classical music was playing, though how he hadn't heard it before Jisung didn't know. A keyboard was pushed against the wall and a real grand piano was in the corner. A guitar, banjo, bass, drum and other instruments of all kinds were crammed into the room. Scoresheets were on stands everywhere. Doyoung was lounging on a plum sofa, scribbling in a small notebook.

"Hi hyung, not going to class today?"

"No, it got cancelled." Doyoung looked up briefly, "Oh hello, Jisung."

"Hi," Jisung said, proud of himself for not stammering.

"We'll leave you to work, hyung." Mark broke in. "Come on, Jisung,"

* * *

"I expect you'd probably want to see this one." Mark smiled and knocked.

"Come in!"

Hearing the familiar voice, Jisung nearly shoved Mark out of the way as he bolted into the room. "Hyung!"

"Jisung!" Jaehyun jumped up from his chair and returned the hug, "I wasn't sure what time you'd come! I'll take you out for lunch later, deal?"

"Yeah!" Jisung felt cheered.

Mark gave a small cough. "I think Taeyong-hyung would prefer you to stay in today, hyung."

Jaehyun looked at Mark questioningly, then seemed to get his answer. "Sorry, Jisung, I'll take you out tomorrow instead."

"Okay!"

Jisung stared around at Jaehyun's study.

The tables were divided into sections and there were gold plaques in each section stating the names of countries, Afghanistan, Croatia, Denmark… At each section was a computer, several books, files, papers and a cupholder holding stationery. The walls were painted a walnut brown and everything was neat and orderly, much like Jaehyun himself.

A world map hung on the wall next to the window, covered with red glowing pushpins and a globe stood in the corner. There was a soft, comfortable rug underfoot that Jisung felt he could sink into and a sofa under the window.

Mark, who had been standing at the side to give them privacy, said, "We'd better get going. Lots more to see."

"Bye, hyung!"

"Bye,"

* * *

"Here's the dorm," Mark opened the panel with a flourish.

The U dormitory was something of a mess. Two bunk beds had been pushed against the walls and the section of the walls which they had been pressed against were painted a deep blue. However, the rest of the walls were white and the paint was peeling. The cupboard was half open, showing clothes crammed haphazardly about and there was a worn carpet on the floor that had more than a few holes and Jisung could see where the fabric had been patched.

"We're doping some reconstruction," Mark explained.

* * *

"This is the lounge area," Jisung looked in on a room that was in much better condition than the dorm. The walls were painted a rich blue and there were cream sofas and armchairs dotted around the room with blue throw pillows on them. Glass coffee tables were placed in various spots and there were several white chests against the wall. A soft white rug was on the floor and the heavy blue curtains were drawn, the only light available from the sconces adorning the walls.

"It's really nice,"

"Isn't it? They've put quite a bit of effort into this," Mark looked at his watch and ushered Jisung out the door.

* * *

"Just have a peep here, this is the eating area."

Jisung's mouth dropped open. The room had been painted a light blue and was light and airy with wintry sunlight filtering through the stained crystal windows. The whole room had been subtly divided into half, with the half closer to the windows looking and giving of a similar vibe to an outdoor restaurant, with white round-topped tables surrounded by pinewood chairs that had been painted white. The half closer to the door gave of a vibe closer to a fancy restaurant. Bowls of fresh flowers had been placed on the white tablecloths and the chairs were covered with cream linen.

"It looks too good to eat in." Jisung said honestly.

"I know right?"

* * *

"Hyung?" Mark knocked on the door.

A soft, gentle voice replied, "Come on in."

Mark pushed open the door. The room was painted a light dove grey with rose pink curtains covering the arched window. A feathery pattern had been painted on the walls in a slightly darker grey, subtly texturing the appearance of the room.

White potted plants had been placed on the windowsill, the desk, the two tables lined up against the walls, the filing cabinets . The whole plant was like a mini tree without leaves, completely colourless and as pale as a ghost.

A white lacquer table top had been placed in the middle of the room on a white fur carpet, so soft Jisung felt he could sink into it.

Gold name plaques of all the workers at the company had been placed neatly along the long tables against the walls. Many rolling cabinets had been placed underneath the tables, one under each name plaque, fitting so perfectly Jisung assumed they were drawers until he saw the wheels peeping out. A computer had been positioned at each name plaque and all were running, whirring and displaying complicated documents. Decal timetables had been pasted onto the wall above the name plaques, each with the worker's name written on it at the top and neat handwriting filling the tiny squares.

Jisung was so busy marvelling at the study that he didn't even register the person sitting at the middle desk until that person spoke. "Hello… Jisung, isn't it?"

The person smiled at him warmly. He radiated a soft and gentle aura as his velvety dark hair fell like silk over his soft doe-like eyes. The beautiful smile that splayed across his cheekbones was gentle and welcoming. He wasn't ruggedly handsome like Jaehyun or Taeyong, but as he looked at the sweet smile upon his face and his beguiling eyes, Jisung felt himself melt.

"Hi," he murmured.

"Jaehyun talks about you all the time." His voice had a gentle and reassuring quality, like warm milk. "I'm Jungwoo,"

Jisung started to introduce himself, and then remembered that Jungwoo knew who he was and settled for shaking his hand instead.

"Jungwoo-hyung's our secretary." Mark explained, "He's a really good one too! He was a trainee along with us but he's so calm and detailed and great at organising and we all love him so much so management agreed to try him out." Mark lowered his voice. "Also because he kinda needs the money,"

Jungwoo shook his head at Mark but he didn't seem upset. "Mark, I believe this is yours," He stood up and opened a drawer under the plaque that had Mark's name on it, taking a file out and handing it to Mark.

Mark inhaled, scanning it. "Thanks, hyung."

"Make sure you finish it before Tuesday," Jungwoo reminded him before turning back to Jisung with a friendly smile. "So, are you new here? Are you working in the Dream department? I don't recall seeing your form…"

"Oh, he's not working here." Mark interrupted, still eyeing the folder. "I'm giving him a tour because he's Jaehyun's friend."

The muscles in Jungwoo's face twitched slightly, but other than that his face remained impeccably smooth. "Ah, I see. Well, in that case, I assume you've filled up the non-disclosure agreement?"

"Yeah."

"I'll take him down to Dream for lunch," Mark said. "Do you think that's okay?"

"Yes, I think so." Jungwoo smiled reassuringly. "I'm sure they'll love to see him." A fond look crossed his face, "They rarely see anyone nowadays; they're working so hard now."

Jisung felt a feeling of trepidation rise in his stomach at the thought of meeting new people. "How old are they?"

"Oh, they're all around your age. I'm sure you'll get along just fine,"

Jisung's stomach squeezed even tighter. He never seemed to be able to make friends with people his own age. He was shy and self-conscious, never daring to speak up in case he was made fun of. In school, he hung around this group and that group but he never really belonged in any group.

Jungwoo seemed to sense his anxiety. "Don't worry," he said comfortingly, "They're all super nice."

Jisung exhaled. "Okay," He waved shyly to Jungwoo, "Bye,"

Jungwoo responded with a warm smile. "Goodbye Jisung, it was lovely meeting you."

* * *

 **read and review, don't be shy!**

 **luv you guys!**

 **luv_wrestlin_fan_gurl**


	5. Chapter 5

thank you hopebel for thanking me for updating and telling me you love the story as well as for telling me to keep up the good work; really appreciate it! thank you as well tina for telling me you like my fanfic and hope i update soon. i'll do my best.

edit: i finished revamping this chapter and it's really looonggg but i'm super surprised i was able to squeeze this out because i just returned from a national comps in india and i'm in the middle of exams gah.

* * *

Mark led Jisung down a duck yellow corridor. "There's still some time before lunch so I'll show you their offices first." He knocked on a panel and a cheerful voice called. "Come in!"

Mark pushed open the door to reveal a desk in the middle of the room as well as two long tables lining the walls. Tubes filled with different coloured liquids were set up on the desk as well as different instruments and there were boxes covered with cloths on the long tables along the walls.

A person was sitting at the end of the table. He had light brown, almost blond hair and big, round eyes. He had babyish features and a small snub nose as well as big, bright eyes. His face had a childish, innocent look to it as he stared openmouthed at Jisung, two tubes filled with bright coloured liquid in his hand.

"This is Jisung, Chenle." Mark introduced him. "He's not a new recruit." he said before Chenle could ask, "I'm just giving him a tour because he's a friend of Jaehyun's."

Chenle set down the tubes. "Uh hi,"

"Hi," Jisung mumbled.

There was a pause then almost simultaneously they both asked, "How old are you?"

They stopped and grinned awkwardly. The reflex to ask one's age had been deeply ingrained in Jisung sunce middle school; kids considered age almost as important as one's name.

Mark rolled his eyes. "Chenle's a year older than you, Jisung."

Chenle gave Jisung a more friendly smile which Jisung shyly returned.

"See you at lunch, Chenle; I'm just bringing Jisung on a tour."

"Oh, so _you're_ having lunch with us?" Chenle raised his eyebrows. "What happened, 127 kick you out?"

Mark's response was an obscene hand gesture as he and Jisung left the room.

"What was that about?" Jisung ventured timidly.

"Oh," Mark waved his hand dismissively. "He's just jealous."

Mark obviously didn't care to elaborate, so Jisung didn't press it.

"Here's the dorm!" Mark opened the door with a flourish and Jisung's jaw dropped. This room was nothing like the other units; it was painted a cheerful sunflower yellow with white petals spreading out across the walls. The paint had an aged orange look to it and had probably been given several coats to achieve that effect.

A bunk bed spread with tangerine-coloured sheets lined each wall, the covers neatly folded back and a plump pillow at the head. The room was tiny, and with the birch chest of drawers crammed in between the beds and a sofa rammed against the wall as well as the narrow closet squashed in a corner, Jisung felt like he barely had room to step. But the room was kept pin neat and tidy and there was a white ruffled rug underneath the beds.

Box shelves had been placed above the beds and Jisung could see how each bed represented each dream member. The top bunk opposite the door had tools haphazardly thrown about in the box shelf and the covers were rumpled, the pillow knocked sideways. The bottom bunk in contrast, had a white broderie anglaise arranged artistically across the bed and a throw pillow against the other pillows. A mini sewing kit had been placed in the box shelf as well as a pouch full of scraps of fabric. A half finished doll made out of fabric scraps dangled on the edge of the box shelf.

The top bunk bed nearer to the door had several thick books crammed into the box shelf. When Jisung went for a closer look, he saw that most of them were about science.

* * *

"This is our lounge area," Mark announced. The room was painted bright yellow, like all the other rooms but the light streaming in from the windows made the walls look golden and like the room was glowing. A ping-pong table had been set up in the middle of the room and there were white couches with comfortable looking yellow throw cushions on them gathered around a huge TV screen. DVDs and CDs were stacked haphazardly on a cabinet under the screen beside a remote and several game controllers. Leftover snacks and drinks had been piled up on a coffee table in the middle of the sofas and the cushions had been strewn everywhere. If that weren't enough mess, several tools were lying all over the floor and the carpet had been rucked up.

Jisung looked around with satisfaction. The pin-neat perfection of the rooms had unnerved him and he was relieved to see a room that resembled something of a student dorm.

Mark seemed embarrassed, kneeling down to pick up the tools and smooth the carpet, saying quickly, "Jeno's super messy; he always leaves his things lying around.

* * *

"This is Jeno's study." Mark knocked loudly.

"Yeah, come in!" Someone from the inside called.

Jisung slid open the door. The study was painted a light brown with the standard tables along the walls and in the center of the room. A computer or two was set up on the tables and there were some files, but otherwise the room was quite plain. There was no one in sight.

Mark went in and knocked on a door at the back.

"Yeah, I'm here!"

Mark pushed open the door and Jisung got a faceful of sawdust. Mark, who had ducked in time, burst into laughter as Jisung spluttered, blinded. "Aw, man, sorry." Someone took hold of his face and wiped the sawdust away carefully.

A bright and friendly-looking guy peered into his eyes to check if there was any left. His dark hair flopped over shining eyes as he apologised, "Sorry, I tripped over a wire so the fan switched on and kicked up a cloud." Instead of the white lab coat, he had on a light orange sleeveless shirt and long wide, black pants. Everything was coated in sawdust and he was drenched in sweat, his shirt sticking to him and his hair plastered to his forehead. Tools were stuffed into the belt at his waist that held up his loose pants and he held a block of wood in his hands.

This part of his study was incredibly messy. Sawdust had been spilled all over the floor and there was a chopping block in the corner of the room, a pile of birch wood piled up next to it, all ready to be cut into sizeable pieces. A wooden stool sat before the block and there was another table next to the block- a lightwood table with paintbrushes kept neatly in a bottle resting on its surface.

There was a large wooden table in the middle of the room, and a half-sculpted wooden horse sculpture at the end of the table. Well, at least it looked like a horse; it was quite difficult to tell what it was. Several sculpting tools and chips of wood were scattered around the base of the horse, and Jeno had obviously just been working on it. There were several diagrams of what the sculpture should look like and sketches with detailed measurements strewn across the table. As the fan or aircon obviously couldn't be switched on for fear the sawdust and bits of wood would blow away, the whole room was very hot and sticky. Jisung didn't understand how Jeno could stand to wear long pants.

Mark wrinkled his nose at Jeno's dishevelled appearance but he didn't say anything.

Jeno grinned at Jisung. "I look really messy, right? Don't worry; I clean up when I go for meetings and stuff." he wiped his hands on his pants and held out his hand for Jisung to shake. "Jeno."

"Jisung," Jisung shook his hand.

"See you later, Jeno," Mark jerked his head in the direction of the door and they left, Jeno waving to Jisung cheerily.

* * *

"This is the gym." Mark motioned to a panel on the wall. "I'll let you have a peep,"

Jisung glanced around the door. The room was clearly a workout area; it was big and spacious and the walls were lined with mirrors with all kinds of exercise machines in the corner. There was a rack at the side where dumbells and bars of different weights were placed neatly. In the centre of the room was a ring like the kind used in wrestling. That still left plenty of space, making it one of the biggest exercise areas Jisung had ever seen.

"So far, only Dream has a gym." Mark said proudly, "We were put in the basement so we have a lot of cool stuff. Our hyungs have to specially request access from Taeyong-hyung in order to come down to the gym, and then he has to inform the managers before they can come."

"What other cool stuff do you have?"

"Oh, a theatre, an indoor swimming pool, a variety of empty rooms too. This was once a huge hotel, but SM bought it from the owners when they were going bankrupt. Good thing too; we were supposed to work in a smelly, cramped warehouse, like every other company that comes from this line of work. SM is really rich; part of the Big3, with JYP and YG. That means we kind of get the privilege of having cooler work areas, more connections and just a better start in general. People generally pay more attention to us than groups not from the Big3."

* * *

The study was built in the same design as Chenle's with two tables lining the walls and a table in the centre. There were complicated-looking machines everywhere and tubes filled with chemicals lined the tables.

Various smells filled the air, some sweet, some sour, some bitter. Placed around the room were bottles containing different coloured liquids emitted bubbles or frothed at the top, some changing colour every five seconds.

Computers and complex equipment lay on the table, some neatly and some thrown about haphazardly. Sheafs of paper were stacked messily on any bare surface, covered with cramped writing. A guy with dark brown hair plastered to his sweaty forehead emerged from a back door. His face had a peaky look and he was very slight, with narrow shoulders and small eyes.

"Hyung." he said, nodding briskly.

"Jisung, this is Renjun; he's our science guy. Renjun, this is Jisung, Jaehyun's friend."

Renjun eyes widened and he looked at Mark to which Mark quickly shook his head.

Renjun turned to Jisung with a smile. "Hi, sorry, I thought you were a new recruit."

"Hi,"

"Renjun, you wanna show him your lab?"

"Don't touch anything." Renjun beckoned him through the door he had just entered through.

Jisung went in and found himself in a room that reminded him of the science lab at his school.

A cabinet was in the corner, opened to show shelves of lab materials packed carelessly. There was a sink built into a table at the side, rags heaped next to it and the tap still dripping water. Complicated lab apparatus had been set up on the opposite table; Renjun had clearly been in the middle of an experiment as there was a bowl of unknown substance being heated on a platform. There was a tube feeding into the bowl and a blue-coloured liquid was sliding down a tube into a beaker. The second it dripped into the beaker, it hissed and turned orange.

"What's that?" Jisung asked curiously, leaning for a closer look.

"Don't touch," Renjun reminded him. "It's very sensitive. I've been working on this for a while,"

* * *

"This is Jaemin-hyung's study." Mark knocked and there was a muffled sound of acknowledgement.

Jisung followed Mark inside. The room was like Jeno's study; the walls painted a lovely shade of rose gold and a luxurious fur carpet on the floor. There was a single computer on the desk in the middle and a window seat under the glass window with a few cushions propped up on it.

Mark went in and pushed open the door at the back. Jisung walked in cautiously, ducking down behind Mark so that there wouldn't be any chance of him being hit in the face by sawdust again.

He looked up and inhaled sharply. Tall bookshelves had been built against the walls, but instead of books, rolls of brightly coloured fabrics in different types of print and material lined the shelves. There were shelves full of spools of thread, pincushions stuck full of pins, a big bag of sewing scraps… Several of the shelves had been dedicated entirely to accessories. Headbands and hats had been placed on mannequin heads and sparkling necklaces had been draped delicately on white stands and there was a clear box of ribbons of assorted colours as well as belts, sashes, scarves and ties. Other accessories such as chokers, bracelets, rings and chains were stored on several shelves. There was even a shelf of glitter, sequins and many other art supplies along with a shelf allocated for huge scrapbooks, books on cut, colour and print and fashion magazines.

"This place has so much stuff!" Jisung ran his fingers across a bolt of sky blue silk. The fabric felt so cool and light in his hands.

Mark was peering around the room. "This is his supply room but I guess he's not here. He's probably in his workshop."

"Where-" Mark was already crossing the room and he opened a door almost completely obscured by the shelves.

Jisung peeped in. The room was painted a lovely shade of rose pink and there was a sewing machine in the corner. A ruby-red dress was spread out on a table in the middle of the room, only half-finished, with a box of sequins next to it. There were skirts, coats, suits and dresses hung up on hangers at a clothes rack at the side of the room. Several mannequins were dotted around the room, some of them covered in exquisite clothes while some sported only half an outfit. An intricately designed carpet covered the floor and a guy was at the back of the room, a tape measure around his neck and pins in his mouth, basting a piece of red velvet with the pins to the front of a dress.

"Jaemin-ah." Mark cleared his throat to announce their presence.

The guy looked up for a brief moment. He had high cheekbones and a swirl of chestnut brown hair above gorgeous hazelnut golden eyes. His face was very charming and he had a dazzling smile which he directed at Jisung. "Hey, I'm Jaemin."

"I'm Jisung," Jisung muttered. Most of the Kpop-idols he'd seen were considered pretty good-looking, but Jaemin was on a whole other level. His face was still young and he still had some baby fat on his cheeks but his jawline was very sharp and defined and his visuals could even be considered Taeyong standard.

"Hyung could you take this to Chenle, please?" Jaemin stuck the pins into a nearby pincushion and went over to his desk where he retrieved a small white box. He opened it to show Jisung and Chenle a necklace set with midnight-blue diamonds. It was a slender silver chain with tiny diamonds hanging off in a spiky circle.

"Yuta-hyung and Johnny-hyung made this a shock collar and if you say 'No Kwiksy', then the shock collar will register Chenle's upgraded jellyfish shock. Ten-hyung made the diamonds so that they would shoot out the shock from the tips of the diamonds to form a sort of net to hold Kwiksy down. I put everything together and made it more comfortable and wearable." Jaemin explained.

"That's so cool!" Jisung breathed.

Mark took the box. "I'll drop this off on my way up. That's all for the tour, Jisung. You might as well head along with Jaemin for lunch now. I've got-"

"Go on, head up to 127." Jaemin interrupted a little sharply, "I'll take him."

Mark nodded and left, waving to Jisung.

Jisung felt a little intimidated by such a good-looking guy, but Jaemin was so cheerful and good-natured that he made Jisung feel right at home.

* * *

Jisung stepped into a large room painted dark beige with a sloping ceiling. Glossy stainless steel tables had been placed at regular intervals in the room and there were chairs tucked neatly under them. At the far end of the room was a large glass window that acted as a wall and there was a mud brown carpet underfoot. The whole room gave off a study hall/ dining room vibe that Jisung had encountered in middle school and wasn't that happy to experience again.

He recognised Jeno and Chenle sitting at a table under a window. They seemed to be deep in discussion. Renjun was sitting by himself at the table next to them, papers and notebooks spread out everywhere. He was wearing glasses and jotting down notes in a small notebook, occasionally picking up a piece of paper to check what was written on it.

They had all removed their white lab coats, which hung neatly on hooks against the wall, and were wearing their normal clothes. Jeno had on a collared shirt with images of animals printed all over it and brown shorts. Renjun sported a white hoodie and blue denim knee-length shorts and Chenle was clothed in a baggy, long-sleeved red shirt with black stripes as well as white pants. Jaemin took off his white lab coat and hung it with the others to reveal a white shirt and fashionably ripped blue jeans.

They all looked a little tired and Jisung saw that Jeno had chips of- was it wood?- in his hair and Renjun, when he looked up, seemed thin and languid and he took off his glasses, rubbing his aching eyes tiredly.

Jisung sat down next to Chenle as Renjun hastily cleared the table. Jaemin placed himself next to Jisung opposite Renjun.

Jisung could feel his heart thudding. He was terrible at making conversation and he wished someone would say something.

All of a sudden there was a squeak. Everyone whipped around looking for the noise but Chenle's hand immediately jumped to his shirt pocket and his eyes darted about nervously though he tried to act casual.

Jaemin scooted back in his chair, Renjun dropped his glasses and Jeno demanded, "Chenle! Did you bring him out _again?_ What did we learn about lab etiquette? Never bring your projects outside the study!"

"I'm sorry," Chenle wailed, frantically patting his shirt pocket, which was starting to wriggle around. "He looked lonely so I thought I'd just take him out if he _promised_ to behave…"

"He's an animal!" Jeno said, exasperated. "He can't promise!"

'What? What is it?" Jisung backed out of his chair.

Chenle was still trying to placate the squirming, and now squeaking lump. "He's not harmful, I promise! He's really sweet-" he moved to take the thing out.

"Don't you dare!" Jaemin said sharply, backing up even further.

"Take him back to the lab!" Jeno ordered him, practically climbing up onto his chair.

A buzzer sounded on a panel near the wall and Jeno cursed and ran over to it, banging his fist on the wall.

A voice Jisung recognised as Jungwoo's floated through a hidden speaker. "What's going on?"

"Chenle brought Kwiksy out again!" Jeno tattled.

"Lee Jeno!" At that instant, Chenle's grasping hand slipped and a white blur jumped out of his pocket.

Renjun screamed- _actually_ screamed- and knocked over his chair as he leapt to his feet. Jaemin nearly fell out of his chair and he roughly dragged Jisung out of the way. Chenle stayed where he was but he kept completely still. "Don't move and don't startle him." he hissed. "Don't panic,"

"Oh yeah, because that's the last thing on my mind right now." Jeno hissed, clinging to the wall.

Although his heart was racing, Jisung couldn't help peering curiously at the thing that caused so much panic.

It was a baby fennec fox, white all over, with pink in its ginormous creamy ears. It licked its paw, looking sweet and demure.

"It's so adorable!" Jisung couldn't help exclaiming.

Jaemin clutched his arm harder and Chenle shot him a sharp look but the thing on the floor continued to lick its paw, oblivious to the commotion around.

Jeno hissed into the panel. "Kwiksy got out!"

Jungwoo's calm voice answered, "Okay, calm down. Does Chenle have the situation under control? Do you need me to send in a containment team?"

"No!" Chenle mouthed at Jeno. "I got it covered!"

"I don't get it," Jisung whispered, "What's wrong with him?"

"Chenle injected him with a ah- interesting serum. Chenle's monitoring his behaviour but we still don't know how he's going to be like. Yesterday Chenle left him with a steel bone and he came back and he had broken the bone into pieces."

Jisung gulped and moved back even further.

"He's completely harmless!" Chenle protested.

"You can't know that," Renjun snapped.

As if on cue, the fox yawned and with a huge leap that should have been impossible, jumped up onto the table- and ripped a hunk of stainless steel off!

Renjun shrieked and Jeno jumped nearly three feet above the floor. Jaemin and Jisung both leaped back at the same time and immediately Chenle leapt in the opposite direction- _forward_ and cupped Kwiksy in his hands.

The small animal offered no resistance, nibbling sweetly at his hunk of metal.

"Chenle's got it, Chenle's got it!" Jeno gabbled breathlessly into the panel.

"No one's hurt? Okay, call me if you have any problems?"

"Thanks, hyung." Jeno slapped his palm against the panel and there was a click.

"Chenle, take him back to your study and shut him in your cage. Do _not_ let him out!" Renjun instructed.

"Okay," Chenle said sadly. "Come on Kwiksy," he cupped the small animal, which sucked his thumb happily and carried it out the room.

Everyone breathed out once he'd gone and then burst into nervous laughter.

"Oh, that animal is so scary!" Jaemin gasped.

"My heart's still pounding!" Renjun added, massaging his chest.

* * *

"I'm back!" Chenle announced, flouncing into the room. "Kwiksy took a while to settle."

He took his seat again and tucked in ravenously to the small portion of chicken salad a silent staff had provided. Jisung didn't like salad and he hated salad dressing but he forced himself to choke down most of his chicken and some leaves.

Chenle eyed his remaining portion. "You gonna eat that?"

"Here." Jisung pushed it over to him.

"Ah, thanks!"

Jaemin took a sip from his mug of strong black coffee and his tired eyes brightened. "So, Jisung, what else are you going to do today?"

"I don't know actually," Jisung considered.

"I mean you can always hang out with us," Renjun nursed a herbal mist tea. "We have break time before we have to work again."

* * *

At first, they had talked for a while, but after a few minutes Chenle had yawned and said he was going to take a nap. Jeno soon followed suit and Renjun's head was soon drooping, Jaemin curled up on the couch, dozing.

Jisung just sat there and used his phone for a bit but before long, someone poked his head in. "Jisung?"

Jisung recognised the guy as Haechan, whom he'd met the previous day. "Hi," he whispered so as not to wake the other Dream members.

"Jaehyun says he's going to bring you out for tea."

"Oh, wow! Yay!"

* * *

if you haven't yet, please go and watch 'regular' by wayv, the nct china unit. it's a little sad that they had to a cover as their debut song, but i think they did it well. go support them! please read and review!

edit: jopping is lit; nctzens, exo-ls, shawols go stream and support because "whEn wE jumPinG and pOpPing, wE jOpPing!"

luv you guys!

luv_wrestlin_fan_gurl


	6. Chapter 6

**hiiiiiiiii! if yall havent yet you should go check out wakey wake, nct 127's new japanese single. the line distribution is relatively fair this round-omg i an't believe, is this sm?- and im really happy that jungwoo got quite a bit of screen time. also, im worried about haechan; he was sitting down the whole mv and wasn't dancing at all. how injured is he? btw hopebel, yes im sorry it took so long, but here's the next chapter.**

 **edit: I AM DONE WITH EXAMS PHEW! AND THIS EDITED CHAPTER AS WELL!**

* * *

"I want to become a trainee." Jisung declared as he and Jaehyun sat in their favourite cafe.

Jaehyun choked on his pumpkin spiced latte. "Jisung, trainee life is really hard, I don't think you understand-"

"I don't mind."

"Jisung- do you know how much we've had to sacrifice? We've really given up our lives to pursue our passion and do you even know what you want to do anyway? Is there something you're really passionate about or you really want?"

Jisung thought about it. "I love to dance," he announced.

Jaehyun's eyes sparkled. "Yes, Jisung, I know you're great at that. But really, you have to think how your dancing skill would benefit our business. Like our product, the Seventh Sense is appealing because you see Taeyong-hyung with his visuals and he organised the whole thing. Taeil-hyung designed it; from his interior designing skill he knows how to make it look nice. Ten-hyung created special jewels for it that really reflected and embodied the mysterious quality we were going for. Doyoung created a beautiful haunting tracklist and I added a myth I found in a New Orleans guidebook which really imbues the reader with chills. Mark handled all our promotions because he has a knack for marketing and he somehow manages to get the word out everywhere. "

"Yeah, and it looks amazing!" Jisung said enthusiastically. "But what does everyone else do?"

"Yuta-hyung is a mechanic so we're hoping to add lots of cool gadgets to our product. Johnny-hyung is a tech guy so he could create special programmes linked to our product. Uh, Sicheng- you haven't met him but you'll love him- is a botanist so he creates special hybrids of plants that would reflect our product." Jaehyun counted off on his fingers, "Jungwoo is our secretary but he was actually called in because of his talent with smell. He's still in training, but he can create amazing aromas to suit whatever vibe we're going for. Renjun's science is probably the hardest to fit in but he's pretty great at creating things that explode and combust so that could be added in. Jeno is a great sculptor; he could probably create the product or make an addition. Haechan is such a good artist so he can paint our designs. Jaemin handles fashion very well so he could sew like a cute bracelet or whatever on the cover. Chenle is a zoologist and he firmly believes that science's biggest innovations come from nature so whatever he makes will definitely concern Mother Earth."

Jisung's eyes had grown wider and wider. "That's so cool! I really really really want to join!"

Jaehyun put down his spiced latte and held Jisung's hands. "I get it, Jisung, really, but I think you should just concentrate on your studies. Plus admit it, you only want to get into NCT. If SM puts you in another group, you're gonna quit."

"That's true," Jisung admitted. "But- they're the only people that… want to be my friends."

"Oh, Jisung," Jaehyun said sympathetically. "You'll make friends, I'm sure. It just takes time really."

"I know, I know, but hyung, I really want to be trainee!" Jisung gabbled, not wanting to deter from the subject.

Jaehyun looked exasperated to have come full circle. "Jisung, seriously, I know it may sound cool and all, but it's a sad, harsh life for us. We have to work our butts off and we never even know if we'll get to debut a business at all. Johnny-hyung has been training 9 years and he's only just getting his chance now. Jisung, you don't want to waste your childhood. Listen to me, _do not audition_ if you know what's best for you."

Even after talking to Jaehyun, Jisung wouldn't be dissuaded. He went home with his mind full of ideas, and instead of working on his schoolwork, he drafted a whole page of ideas for his audition.

When he was done, the room was a mess of scribbled papers and criss-crossed lines of barely legible handwriting but Jisung was satisfied with the brainwave he'd come up with. It was truly a genius idea and he was surprised Mark hadn't thought of it before. One thing was for sure, he definitely had to explain his idea to Mark himself.

* * *

"You want _what?_ " Jaehyun choked- on an ice americano this time.

"I want a meeting with Mark." Jisung repeated calmly.

"Wait, wait, wait," Jaehyun put his palms up facing Jisung. "We're talking about the same Mark, right? Mark Lee, who just debuted in NCT U and will be debuting in another unit and who is currently really busy?"

"Yup. And I mean," Jisung shrugged as he drunk his apple juice, "You just debuted and you're debuting in another unit and you're really busy but you still make time for me."

"Yeah, because I know you, Jisung. You met Mark what, two, three days ago?"

"Around there, yeah. Look hyung, this is going to help your business."

Jaehyun eyed him suspiciously. "You're not going to beg Mark to help you get accepted as a trainee, are you? Mark's persuasive, but he's not that persuasive."

"No, hyung, I promise!" Jisung laughed.

"Hmm, I'll ask him, but _I_ make no promises."

* * *

"According to Jungwoo, Mark's only free slot this week is on Saturday, but Mark himself very kindly agreed to see you in half an hour."

"Really? Great!"

* * *

Jaehyun eyed him weirdly. "Still not going to tell me why you so urgently need to see Mark?"

"Love to, but I think I should tell Mark first."

"Hmph, don't mention anything bad about the company, whatever you do and be careful what you say." Jaehyun knocked and when Mark's voice called "Come in," gestured for Jisung to go in then left.

Jisung took a deep breath and steeled himself before gathering his courage to go in. Rehearsing his plan in his mind, he reminded himself, "This is your one shot; just don't screw up."

Mark was typing furiously at a computer when he came in, his hair crammed messily under a baseball cap. "Hi Jisung!"

"Hi! Thanks so much for seeing me," Jisung said a little shyly.

"Well, Jaehyun said it was important." Mark cleared the papers off one of the chairs so Jisung could sit. When Jisung had perched decorously at one end of the seat, Mark looked at him expectantly, taking out a notepad and pen. "Well?"

Jisung cleared his throat, willing himself not to be nervous. "I've thought of a marketing strategy."

Mark waited, his pen poised.

"So you post about your products on lots of social media platforms, right? And you make videos to explain your product?" Jisung fumbled with a folder of papers under his jacket that he'd compiled the night before and pushed it across the table with shaking hands. "I've done some research and statistics show that 79% of people nowadays respond better to entertaining videos, mostly music videos. I mean, do you know how many views Psy got on Gangnam style?"

"Yeah, of course, it was a hit." Mark hadn't even put his pen to paper yet. This wasn't a good sign. Jisung hurriedly pressed on.

"Exactly, so what I was thinking is instead of making an educational video explaining your product- I mean you can still do that if you want- you should make a music video, and a song based around your product. And to make it more interesting, you can dance and dress up like celebrities. If you dress up like American pop stars and do your music video in a similar style but still Korean, it's gonna appeal to a lot more people. Also, there was a recent survey that said 63% of people believe that music is the thing that connects people from different countries and cultures the most." Jisung paused for breath and eyed Mark.

Mark was chewing his pen, his eyebrows knitted. "So, you want us to make a music video."

"Yeah. It'd be great if you guys can sing and dance, and those who can't sing can rap. A music video would increase your audience exponentially and get you those wins at the shows."

"But no other business has-"

"That's the point, though, isn't it? To do things better and bigger than other businesses? Isn't that how you stand out and how you get people to buy your product? If you hesitate to try new things, other businesses are gonna try it first and you'll never get to do them without looking like you're copying. Plus this will really make you unique as the first business to do this and way more people would be exposed to you internationally as well as in Korea."

Mark was looking thoughtful now, tapping his pen against his chin. "Well, I suppose," he gave a little laugh and shook his head. "Why not?"

"Really?" Jisung's heart soared in his chest. "You really mean it?"

"Well, I got to run a few background checks first, gotta make sure this idea is pretty watertight or the company'd never agree to it." Mark clicked his pen. "Leave that folder with me; I'll bring it up at the next meeting."

"Thanks so much, Mark-hyung!" Jisung felt so excited he thought he might burst.

"Calm down, Jisung, it hasn't happened yet! It's not a certainty but thanks for bringing this to my attention." Mark shook his head, "You know, I'll be darned if this actually works. Then you've come up with the steal of the century, kid. It could mean the evolution of Korean businesses as we know it." Mark looked curiously at Jisung, "Any reason why you suddenly thought of this?"

"I-" Jisung dropped his eyes and bit his lip, wondering if he should confess.

"Yes?" Mark smiled encouragingly.

"I love dancing," Jisung confessed. "It's always been my passion and-" it all spilled out in a rush. "I really really want to be a trainee but the only thing I'm good at is dance-"

"So you were trying to think of ways you could incorporate your dance into the business?" Mark chuckled, "You're really determined, aren't you? How are you at choreographing?"

The unexpected question took Jisung by surprise. "I don't wanna sound like I'm bragging, but I'm pretty good."

"What types of dance do you specialise in? Jazz, tap, classical, ballet? Please not ballet."

"I'm pretty versatile but hip-hop's more my jam."

"Hmm, well, tell you what. If management agrees for our new unit's debut- now I'm not making any promises- but I'll do my best to get you put in as a junior choreographer, how's that?"

Jisung could hardly speak from happiness. "Oh Mark-hyung, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

* * *

"So… you gonna tell me your big idea?" Jaehyun studied Jisung, "Though I'd say it must be pretty darn good if you come out with your face like that."

Happily, Jisung spilled his idea to Jaehyun.

Jaehyun's jaw dropped, and with some effort, he hauled it back up. "You clever little bastard, now where'd you come up with the idea for that?"

Jisung grinned smugly, knowing it must be pretty great if Jaehyun was gonna curse. "Can you sing, hyung?"

Jaehyun appeared not to have heard, muttering to himself, "It's fantastic; a musical approach, of course… Doyoung will love it!"

"Can _you_ sing?" Jisung repeated.

"Mhm."

"Are you serious, hyung? Go on, show me!"

"No!"

"You could possibly sing in front of hundreds of people and you won't sing in front of a friendly audience?"

"You know I can say you're harassing me and have you pay $200 bucks, right?"

"Go on!"

But of course Jaehyun absolutely refused.

* * *

 **read and review, don't be shy!**

 **luv you guys!**

 **luv_wrestlin_fan_gurl**


	7. Chapter 7

**and i oop! the next revamped chapter is up and running folks!  
**

* * *

"No!"

"Are you sure?"

" _No!_ " Jaehyun threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. "No no no! I haven't heard from Mark at all!" It usually took a lot to piss Jaehyun off but Jisung asking him for what seemed to be the tenth thousand time whether Mark had talked to the managers about his idea yet seemed to have pushed him over the edge.

Seeing Jisung's stubborn face, Jaehyun attempted to explain. "Mark's probably really busy working so I doubt he has had time, but I'm _sure_ that he will tell me about anything concerning your idea."

At that moment, Jaehyun's phone buzzed and he picked up. "Hello? Mark? Oh, yeah we were just talking about you- hm? Jisung? Why would you- okay, okay fine." Jaehyun passed the phone to Jisung wordlessly.

"Hi hyung!" Jisung could barely contain his excitement. "Any news? Did you ask? What did they say? Has it been approved? Did-"

"Woah, Jisung, let a man get a word in!" Mark laughed. "Yes, yes, yes to everything!"

Jisung felt his heart jump a beat. "Really? For real? You're serious?"

"Serious as a heartbeat." Mark went on to tell him what had happened. He had only had time yesterday to show his manager the idea and at first he was a little doubtful, but through Mark's persistent badgering, he had managed to convince him to hold a meeting with all NCT's managers and they wanted to meet with Jisung as well!

"4 o'clock today," Mark was saying. "You think you can make it? They're really looking forward to meeting you-"

"Of course! As if I would miss it!" Jisung gabbled excitedly.

"Hold on, hold on!" Jaehyun wrestled the phone away from Jisung, "Mark, talk to me."

For five minutes he listened to Mark, then he snapped his phone shut. "You're really something, aren't you?"

* * *

"I'm nervous, why am I nervous?" Jisung took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves.

"It's okay, just breathe," Jaehyun said soothingly. "You'll do great. Just remain calm and explain your idea to them like you did to me, okay? Mark will help you. Take deep breaths, there you go."

With Jaehyun's assuring presence calming his nerves, Jisung steeled himself and knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

Jisung pushed it open and entered shakily.

"Hi, Jisung!" Mark smiled reassuringly from his place at his desk. A _whole group of men_ sat down on the couches, chatting and checking their phones, some sipping mugs of something hot.

Jisung swallowed. He'd known he would be meeting Mark's managers, but he hadn't known how many there would be.

Mark waved a hand at Jisung. "This is Park Jisung, the one who came up with the idea."

Immediately conversation stilled. Phones slipped into pockets and all eyes turned to Jisung.

Jisung tried for a smile. "H-hello," he bowed.

"Sit down over here, Jisung," Mark patted the seat next to him and Jisung gratefully went to it, mindful of all the eyes staring at him and the hushed whispers.

"So young!"

"A babe really, not long out of middle school."

"What can _he_ contribute?"

"Sirs, today we will present to you an idea that we hope will revolutionize the way people view the korean business industry." Mark motioned to Jisung, "Jisung here is the one that came up with the idea and now he will present it to you."

Jisung just sat in his chair, his mouth going dry as his heart raced. Mark squeezed his hand, murmuring, "Just tell it like you told me."

Taking a deep breath, Jisung launched into his prepared speech. All the time he tried to ignore the murmurs from the group of men progressively getting louder.

"What is his point?"

"What does he take us for, fools?"

"This is a waste of our time!"

Jisung flushed, his cheeks burning and his voice faltering.

Then a tall man sitting near the back raised his hand and everyone quietened down. The man was quite old, with a lined, wise face and graying hair curling across a receding hairline above wire-rimmed glasses. He stared intently at Jisung with small, dark eyes, looking as if he were taking in everything Jisung said.

This gave Jisung the courage to continue. When he was done, Mark gave him a little wink.

"That's never been done before," A balding man with a slight pot belly said with a frown.

"But is it so horrible to be unique?" Jisung said boldly, "If we never try new things, we'll always be stuck with the same traditional way of doing things, when we could be preventing ourselves from reaching greater heights. And when- not if, _when_ \- other companies have this idea, they'll do it before we can and then it'll be all the harder to break through the market. We need to seize the chance _now_ , and it's a perfect time, because the next NCT subunit will be debuting."

There were still grumbles among the managers; about how expensive these things were, how little time there was to prepare, just the shocking newness of the idea…

"The boy is right." The old man at the back said suddenly, "It is a good idea and we should put it to effect. We will test it out on NCT 127. And you, boy," he fixed Jisung with an appraising stare. "Park Jisung? How well can you sing and dance?"

"I can dance well, sir."

"If NCT 127 does well then consider yourself the newest member of NCT Dream."

* * *

 **sorry it's so short, i was kinda in a rush to finish this cos I'm leaving for shanghai tomorrow.**

 **follow me on instagram daramjwi_jisungie**

 **follow me on fan fiction luv_wrestlin_fan_gurl**

 **don't be shy to read and review, y'all know the drill!**

 **luv you guys!  
luv_wrestlin_fan_gurl**


	8. Chapter 8

**who listened to highway to heaven? if you haven't, go listen to it now! It's literally so beautiful and Johnny's vocals, Haechan's high note and Jungwoo's solo part are absolutely golden!**

 **edit: I just finished my last comps of the year whoop! this chapter has finally been revamped! we're getting there, folks!**

* * *

"Hi, Ms Kwon!" Jisung said cheerily, skipping into the office.

"Hello, Jisung." The receptionist briefly paused from her typing to smile at him. "Sign in, please."

Jisung signed with a flourish and Ms Kwon scanned the visitor's pass into his wrist. "You need me to call anyone for you?"

"No need, Ms Kwon, Jeno-hyung's coming down."

Jeno emerged from the back corridor. "Hi, Jisung, hi Ms Kwon,"

"Let's go!" Jisung hoisted his backpack excitedly. "I'm ready!"

Jeno grinned evily, "I'm sure you are..."

* * *

"Do you know how much sawdust is in your workshop?" Jisung glared at Jeno.

"I'm aware, yes." Jeno said, unfazed.

Jisung pointed to the dust-covered floor. "And you want me to _sweep it?_ "

"Yup."

Jisung glared at him again as he started pushing the broom across the floor.

"Thanks," Jeno shut the door and left Jisung in the messy workshop.

Jisung muttered something rude and set to sweeping.

* * *

"Done." Jisung heaved a deep breath, sweaty and dust-covered.

"Hm? Oh," Jeno looked up from his computer. "Great, thanks so much! I think Renjun-hyung wanted someone to help sort out and clean his lab…"

* * *

"Are there any more?" Jisung glanced up at Renjun, exhausted. His hair was sticking up, he had spilled gloop all over his protective gloves and there was a distinctly burned smell about him.

Renjun looked over his cupboard, the beakers shining squeaky clean and all the lab equipment wiped down. "Wow, I'm impressed. Thanks a lot, Jisung!"

"You're welcome," Jisung wiped the sweat from his brow with his arm.

Renjun checked his watch. "Looks like it's time for lunch, let's go."

* * *

"How are you doing?" Chenle asked over his mac and cheese.

Jisung swallowed a mouthful of chicken. "Um, okay,"

"Really? Great! I have loads of stuff for you to do!"

Jisung tried to smile, but he could feel his heart sinking as he speared a bland spinach leaf.

"I have things for you too," Jaemin said through a forkful of lima beans.

"That's great…" Jisung's voice faltered and he looked quickly at his salad to hide his quickly falling face.

"Hey," Jeno nudged him, causing the fork to slip from his fingers. "This is what you've always wanted, right? To work as a trainee?"

"Yeah, yeah, I guess."

* * *

"Thank you!" Chenle yelled after him as Jisung staggered out the door. He'd just spent the last few hours cleaning Chenle's animals cages and filling them with fresh feed, water, hay and whatever the hell they needed. A trying business, especially considering several of Chenle's pets thought of his fingers as chew toys.

* * *

Jaemin eyed Jisung's work critically. Per Jaemin's orders, Jisung had had to take out all his fabrics from his storeroom, inspect them for damage or wear and tear, rewind the fabrics which had fallen from their spools, then clean the shelves, scour and whitewash the walls and cupboards and finally place everything back in exactly the same place. Not that that was easy, with Jaemin not trusting him to do his job properly and popping in to check on him all the time and scrutinising him so carefully that Jisung felt so stressed to the point that he had to ask him to go away.

"Hmm, not bad." Jaemin saw Jisung's face and relented. "It's pretty good, thanks. I've been needing to do this for a while now but I've never had the time."

"Yeah, no problem," Jisung smiled weakly.

"I've also been meaning to sort out my fabrics for a while…"

* * *

"How was your first day?" Jungwoo enquired, passing Jisung a mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows.

Jisung sipped gratefully. "I'm so tired," But then he drew himself up, beaming. "But I'm finally working at SM, I can't believe it!"

Jungwoo smiled courteously, politely refraining from contradicting him.

Jisung flushed as he hastened to correct himself. "I mean, technically I'm not _working_ under SM but I mean, you know-"

Jungwoo's warm smile put Jisung at ease immediately. "I trust you're enjoying yourself, then?"

Jisung considered this. "I guess,"

Jungwoo crooked an eyebrow.

"Okay, I mean it's great and all, but I guess I just didn't think I'd be working as a helper. I mean-" Jisung's words tumbled out in a rush- "It's not as if I expected anything more, but I sort of thought I'd be actually learning stuff I guess? Not really doing-"

Jungwoo quieted him with a wink. "I understand, don't worry. To be honest, I feel that the Dream members are actually a little jealous. After all, they've worked so hard to get to where they are now. It's really not easy being a trainee in SM. And then you come in so excited and eager to learn, well it must be a little aggravating for them. It seems as if you don't understand the weight of a position as a trainee and with one bright idea you are already guaranteed a position in their unit, a position which they've worked so hard for."

Jisung's mouth dropped open, speechless. Then he stammered, "I-I didn't-"

Jungwoo held up a hand, then hooked his finger into a phone on his desk. "Yes?"

The reply was muffled, but apparently Jungwoo could hear enough because he started jotting down notes on a notepad. "Sorry, Jisung, something's come up. Tomorrow, you'll be working in the U unit. Is that all right?" he eyed him. "It's only Ten-hyung, but I understand there are other maintenance issues to be fixed."

Jisung sighed, forcing a tired smile onto his face. "I'll take care of it."

* * *

 **might be a bit dry right now but i'm getting to go the good stuff soon, don't worry! read and review** **y'all!**

 **luv you guys!**

 **luv_wrestlin_fan_gurl**


	9. Chapter 9

**i don't like superhuman as much as their previous title tracks or highway to heaven, but i think it's still pretty good! definitely worth a listen!**

 **edit: this chapter has been revamped! happy new year** **y'all and rip jungkook I'm missing him so much**

* * *

"Jisung, you need to report to Taeyong's office now." Yuta popped his head around the corner.

Jisung looked up in amazement from where he had been wiping down the oily surfaces. "Taeyong-hyung? Are you serious? Really?"

Yuta nodded. "I'll bring you there right now,"

* * *

Jisung knocked tentatively.

"Come in."

Jisung pushed open the door and peered in. Surprisingly, the circular room was quite small. The walls of the room were painted the same maroon red as the hallway but there were flecks of gold spattered on the walls. The curtains were closed but there were several lamps glowing along the walls, giving the room a cosy feel.

A plum red couch was placed in front of the window and two plush armchairs sat next to it. There were three wooden desks in the room, two against the walls and one in the centre of the room. All three were a walnut-brown and polished to a rich shine. A desk lamp stood shining on each table as well as a closed laptop, several files and binders all neatly placed. Chairs of a rich, nutty brown sat orderly in front of the tables.

Taeyong and _Mark_ both sat at the table, in the middle of some conference, to judge by the hastily shoved aside sheets of paper on the table.

"Jisung, have a seat." Taeyong motioned to one of the chairs. He looked exhausted- they both did- but despite the heavy circles of black around their eyes, they looked excited, eager.

Jisung closed the door and drew up a chair. "Yes?"

"The producers have been working all week and they've just informed me that they have finished an album. _Of songs_."

"That's great!" Jisung could feel his heart pumping in excitement.

"We're going to record and choreograph the song within the next week and then film the music video the week after." Taeyong looked over at Mark, who nodded. "Mark said you're a dancer?"

"Yeah!"

"How would you like to choreograph the dance to our title track?"

"Oh, yes!" Jisung jumped up, nearly knocking over his chair.

Taeyong smiled. "We'll also be giving you the whole behind the scenes; in the recording studio, the making of the music video, the works."

Jisung could barely speak- barely even breathe. This was his dream coming true right here. "Thank you so much!"

Mark grinned, running a hand through his tousled hair. "We've been in meetings the whole week and dance classes and vocal classes and rap classes, trying to figure out who can do what. Surprisingly, none of us are partciularly bad at singing, dancing or rapping."

Jisung eyed him and Taeyong. "Yeah, you look pretty beat."

Mark smiled weakly. "Not one of my most relaxing weeks, I'll admit."

* * *

"I love it!" Jisung exclaimed.

"You do?" Jaehyun had been looking anxious, but now his face went slack with relief. "You don't think it's too droll?"

"No, of course not!" Jisung grinned. "I still can't believe you wrote these lyrics! I never figured you for a songwriter!"

"I was just trying!" Jaehyun said hastily. "They might not even accept these!"

"Are you kidding? Of course they will!"

* * *

"That was amazing!" Jisung said quietly to Mark as they filed out of the recording studio.

Mark chuckled. "Surprised?"

"Starstruck!" Jisung exploded. "Who knew Taeil-hyung could sing so well! And I'm so proud of Jaehyun-hyung's lyrics! Oh, yours and Taeyong-hyung's was so cool too! And your rap! And Taeyong-hyung! And that note from Haechan-hyung!"

"I know, amazing, right?" Haechan called over his shoulder as he strolled down the hall ahead of Mark and Jisung.

* * *

"You guys hired a choreographer? A really really good choreographer?" Jisung pestered Mark.

"Yes, yes, we did." Mark rolled his eyes as the door opened.

A slim, slightly balding man in his late 20s with a trim beard appeared around the door. Dressed in overalls over a white collared shirt, he reminded Jisung of a classy barista and the twinkle in his dancing eyes only enhanced that thought.

"Hello, hello, hello!" The man flashed a dazzling smile as he rubbed his hands together. "Mark, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir!" Mark rushed to shake his hand.

"And who's this young fellow?"

"Jisung, this is Tony Testa, world famous choreographer." Mark introduced.

"World famous? Ah, you exaggerate!" Tony Testa's disarming smile displayed his pearly white teeth as he extended his hand to Jisung.

"I-I think I've heard of you." Jisung stammered as he shook hands with the internationally acclaimed, prestigious legend in the world of dance.

"Right, so Jisung here is the one that came up with the whole marketing idea, and since he's not such a bad dancer himself, we wondered if it's all right if he helps choreograph the song with you?"

"But of course!"

"Great! I'll leave you two to it then." Mark nodded and left.

Jisung was so shy about being left alone with the famous choreographer that he barely offered any suggestions at the start. But with his easygoing attitude and cheerful suggestions, treating Jisung as a co-choreographer and listening to his timid contributions seriously, he quickly put Jisung at ease, and soon Jisung was boldly offering suggestions and even demonstrating the moves.

"How's it going?" Mark peeked into the room.

"Young Jisung certainly is a dancer, no doubt about that!" Tony Testa exclaimed and Jisung tried not to look too pleased. "He's got some great ideas and we've finished most of the choreography already."

"That's great! We have some light refreshments available for you next door, sir."

"Excellent. Nothing feeds inspiration like food!" He headed out the door readily.

* * *

"I can't believe you choreographed it, Jisung," Jaehyun said in admiration. "I mean I don't know dance the way you do, but the moves seem pretty cool. And that lift thing? Mr Testa says it was _you_ that thought of it!"

Jisung shrugged modestly. "I mean I didn't choreograph _everything_. Who's doing the lift?"

"Haechan." Jaehyun's lips curled in a grin, "Think he's scared but he won't admit it,"

"Don't blame him. I'd imagine it must be pretty scary trusting everyone else not to drop you."

Jaehyun shrugged and took a sip from his cup. They were having a small snack of tea and cookies before they had to go back to the office building.

"So, anyway, we'll start recording the music video next week-" Jaehyun held up his hands as Jisung opened his mouth, "Yes, yes, you're invited to the shooting."

"Hooray!" Jisung danced a jig happily.

* * *

Jisung gaped open-mouthed as Jaehyun's hair stylist finished blow-drying his hair.

Jaehyun laughed nervously, "What? Does it look that bad?"

"N-No," Jisung stammered. Jaehyun's hair was streaked with dark blue and styled up into severe spikes and Jisung was so tongue-tied with amazement he had trouble breathing.

"Woah!" Jaehyun did a double take as he stared at himself in the mirror. "Wow," he ran a hand through his hair in amazement. The hair stylist knocked his hand away.

"Now, Jung Jaehyun, you're not to mess this up after I've just finished it, y'hear?" The hair stylist in charge, a plump placid woman called Danna, scolded.

"Sorry, Ms Danna,"

Jisung looked around the room. All the others were just finishing their new hairstyles. Taeyong, Jaehyun and Taeil, the ones who's hair had been styled by Danna, looked the best by far.

Taeyong's hair had been cut and arranged in such a way that one side of his head was shaved and his now pure white hair had been swept to the side, enhancing his rugged handsomeness.

Taeil's hair had been dyed platinum blonde and swept up in spikes like Jaehyun. He looked so good Jisung had to blink to make sure he was real.

That was more than he could say for the other members however. Haechan didn't look too far from his usual self, but his brown hair had been shaped into a bowl cut and his bangs kept slipping into his eyes.

Winwin, a slim, lithe guy with thin lips and high cheekbones, and who always nodded politely to Jisung when they met but otherwise didn't say much, usually kept his head bowed and hid behind his dark fringe. But now, his hair had been dyed the same bright platinum blonde as Taeil and spiked up in the exact same way and he was chewing his lips nervously and blinking rapidly, as if the world had just gotten a lot brighter.

Mark's hair actually didn't look too bad at first. It was dyed purplish in the back and orange in the front, but when it was all ruffled together it looked cool and gave him a very gangster vibe. But then his stylist combed the orange part down into fluffy bangs then fashioned the purple part of his hair into a bow and kept it in place with gel.

Yuta's hair was the worst though. It was all frizzy and sticking out like a huge pom pom. When he glanced in the mirror, he reeled back in shock. Danna looked appalled, and shooting his stylist a glare, she came over to him.

Tentatively pulling a lock of frizzy curls, she said in a voice filled with forced cheerfulness, "Well, dearie, it's not too bad. We'll have it back to normal in no time."

"In time for the shooting?" Yuta asked miserably.

"Ah, well, that is to say, not exactly, but well, we do want to make sure you get a lot of attention, don't we? What better way to get attention, hmm dear?"

"I guess so." Yuta poked his tongue out at his reflection and pulled at the curls that twizzed out between his ears.

Their makeup and wardrobe were pretty bizarre too. Taeyong looked totally icy in a light blue denim vest while Taeil had a bandana wound around his neck like a choker and was wearing a checked blazer opened to reveal a yellow shirt. Jaehyun gave off a gangster vibe in a baggy pullover hoodie with lots of chains and a red baseball cap, his dark eyes smoky and intense from the makeup. Winwin was wearing a thick metal choker and a pair of red overalls over a simple black shirt as he stood talking to Yuta, who was dressed in a racer's shirt and a long black skirt over pants that Jisung couldn't stop staring at. Haechan also had a bandana wound around his neck like Taeil and he was wearing a bright orange shirt and red pants. Mark stood nearby, looking uncomfortable in a big dark red hoodie with black netting covering the cloth.

"They look so weird."

Jisung turned to see the rest of the Dream members, Chenle, Renjun, Jeno and Jaemin, standing nearby in overcoats and wearing masks and caps. Renjun hit Chenle- who had spoken- and scolded him in Chinese.

"So, Jisung! You thought of this yourself?" Jeno's voice was falsely cheery.

"Um, yeah, I mean I can't take credit for everything but-"

"And now you'll be joining Dream along with the rest of us." Jaemin's eyes were made even darker under his black cap.

"N-no," Jisung stammered. "I mean- it's not confirmed or anything…"

"Don't _we_ wish we'd thought of this, huh, Jaemin?"

"Yep. Would have saved us a lot of trouble."

"We could've just skipped the long and painful training process and just waltz right in to a unit full of people who've worked so hard for so many years, waiting for their chance and never knowing whether they were good enough." Jeno's voice cracked, but he kept his eyes trained on Jisung.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" Jisung spluttered.

He was glad when Jungwoo came over in a simple black shirt and pants, his dark hair ruffled and a beaming smile on his face, Ten in a white and black shirt-and-jeans combo and Doyoung in a red shirt and blue jeans with Johnny trailing behind in a long black coat.

"Hi Jisung!" Jungwoo greeted him sunnily, and nodding discreetly towards the assembled 127 unit, lowered his voice in a conspiratorial whisper, "They've definitely looked better, wouldn't you say?"

Jisung smiled back- he'd always got along well with the good-natured Jungwoo- and nodded in agreement, waving high to Johnny who gave him a thumbs up back.

Jungwoo turned to greet the other Dream members cheerfully, and they noticeably thawed, especially Jaemin and Jeno. Jisung didn't know what was up with them, but he brushed the thought out of his mind as he said hello to Ten and Doyoung, Johnny going over to the production crew to look at their cameras in awe.

"Wish you'd thought of this a few months ago," Ten sighed enviously.

"I don't." Doyoung shuddered, "They look uncomfortable."

"But they actually look like celebrities," Ten answered dreamily.

Doyoung shoved him playfully as Jisung said, "I didn't know you were going to be here."

"Who could miss this?" Ten twirled his hand around at the 127 unit, the managers, the make-up artists, the camera crew, the sound technicians, the whole shooting scene bustling with staff. "Anyway, if this does well, we'll be doing this in the near future as well."

"And you too, Jisung." Doyoung's intense eyes seemed to bore into Jisung and he squirmed uncomfortably.

"Yeah, well, it's not confirmed."

"Oh, I know." Doyoung shot a glance at the rest of Dream and lowered his voice, "Have they been giving you a hard time?"

Jisung shrugged, not really meeting Doyoung's eye. He was surprised that the older man was so intuitive. Ten was looking over at the youngest unit now. "I'll have a word with them," he said grimly. "They should know better."

Doyoung caught his sleeve as he made to march over. "Go easy, Ten, they're kids too."

"Kids or no kids, this thing is a dream becoming a reality for all of us here. Just because we have different ways of achieving it doesn't mean they can make you feel bad about it just because you got it easier," Ten waved Doyoung away and went over to them.

"They're gonna hate me now." Jisung whispered.

"No no," Doyoung patted his shoulder comfortingly. "Ten may be blunt, but he gets his point across. Ah, and Jungwoo's there too. He'll help smooth things over."

Jisung nodded, trying to believe Doyoung's reassuring words.

"I'll talk to Jaehyun about it too." Doyoung murmured, "After this whole shooting business."

Jisung took a deep breath. "Are you mad at me, hyung?"

"Me?" Doyoung shook his head, laughing wistfully. "I definitely get what they're going through and to be honest, I'm not that happy about it either, but hey-" he bumped Jisung's shoulder in a friendly way. "Who could blame you for this brainwave? It'll revolutionise the company and things will be a whole lot different around here."

"I hope it's gonna be good different."

"It will be." Doyoung's voice was gentle. "And they're gonna see that one day. It just takes time, Jisung. After you get accepted into Dream-" he held up his hand to halt Jisung's protests. "- _after_ you get accepted into Dream, give it a while. Don't come up with too many brainy ideas."

"I don't even know if I will!" Jisung wailed. "That's the awful part, I don't know whether I just helped or screwed the company over big time and then everyone's gonna hate me!"

"Calm down, kid." Doyoung waved reassuringly at Jaehyun, who was looking over in concern. "Look, it's a big risk, but it's a risk we're all taking. It can't make the company any _worse._ It just depends how big of a hit it will be. But it will _definitely_ be a hit. Now smile and wave at Jaehyun; I don't want him looking all anxious when he films his part and I'm sure you don't too."

* * *

 **so my counselor told me to focus on things i enjoy doing besides work, so i guess you'll be seeing more of me soon! read and review!**

 **edit: i've been reading agent exile's stories again and they inspired me to start writing again because they're so amazing, ya'll go check em out! a taeten fanfic (living costs), a luwoo fanfic (champagne kisses) and dojae fanfic (life letters) plus some spin-offs for living costs like mistletoe moments and little things.**

luv you guys!  
luv_wrestlin_fan_gurl


	10. Chapter 10

**so right, i thought i posted chapter 9 a long time ago, but I guess I didn't, whoops! now y'all get 2 chapters at one shot, lmao. also, guess who's seeing NCT 127 this week?!**

* * *

As it turns out, Jisung _couldn't_ do a stay stitch. He could barely remember how to thread a needle! At first, he wanted to impress Jaemin and show off his fancy needlework, but when Jaemin passed him a bag of scraps and a needle and thread, he accidentally sewed the sides of the material together.

Still determined to impress Jaemin, Jisung rashly volunteered to use the sewing machine. When Jaemin came back into the room to check on him, Jisung was nearly in tears struggling with the stupid machine. He'd somehow managed to get the scrap of material sucked into the machine and was trying to yank it out. In doing so, he'd broken the needle and knocked the bobbin off, causing it to unravel and him to swear loudly.

Jaemin entered at the same time as he was kneeling on the floor and trying to pick up all the thread that had unraveled from the bobbin. At first, Jisung was worried Jaemin would yell at him because he seemed so cold and harsh, but Jaemin was a lot more patient and kind than he anticipated.

Jaemin's mouth twitched, and he seemed on the verge of laughing, but he controlled himself and knelt beside Jisung. "Nothing's sadder than dropping a wound bobbin."

"Unless you're dropping a tray full of wound bobbins,"

"That too." Jaemin laughed, helping Jisung to wind the thread back. "Look, you can help me sort out my fabrics, all right?"

"Okay," Jisung was relieved it didn't have anything to do with sewing anymore. Jaemin kept him busy sorting and rolling fabrics, folding them over and after teaching him to sew properly, delegated him to hemming the edges of the fabric.

* * *

"That's really neat, Jisung." Jaemin said surprisingly, his nimble fingers expertly stitching the collar of a white blouse.

Jisung flushed with pride as he finished hemming the skirt he was working on.

Jaemin came over to examine it. "Before I learned to sew properly, I used to only be able to mend people's clothing. I also had to wash and press the clothes that people were too lazy to do, because I was cheaper than any tailor." he said casually as he took the skirt and whipped the edges down to fasten them in place.

"Are you still doing that?"

"Kun-hyung does the washing now," Jaemin smiled. "I actually get to design now."

"Kun-hyung does a lot of things." Jisung observed.

"Yeah, he's super helpful. He does the extra things for us so we can get more things done- Come on in!"

After a few moments, Lucas entered Jaemin's inner study bearing a tray of steaming cups. "Here, Jaemin, your coffee." He pursed his lips to clearly show his disapproval as he set the cup down in front of Jaemin. "Jisung, I don't know what you like, but it's cold today so I made you hot chocolate."

"Thanks," Jisung gratefully accepted the cup. Jaemin kept the heater on high and the room was warm and cozy, but he'd left the window open to let in some air, and Jisung just happened to be sitting next to the window where the breeze blew over him and left him shivering and freezing.

Lucas noticed this and discreetly slid the window so that the breeze still entered the room but didn't cause Jisung to freeze to death. Jisung smiled thankfully and sipped the hot drink. It seemed to warm him from the tips of his toes to his sore and bleeding fingers where he had pricked himself with the needle.

Again, Lucas was surprisingly observant and he nudged Jaemin. "What have you been doing to the poor kid?" He picked up one of Jisung's fingers and showed Jaemin a particularly sheer cut.

Jaemin took a look. "Don't fuss, hyung, it's not deep. I prick myself all the time."

"Do your hands hurt?" Lucas asked, ignoring him.

"Not really," Jisung half-lied, his fingers stinging from all the cuts made even more painful from the cruelly biting wind and his hands numb and cramped from staying in the same position for a long period of time.

"Come now, I'll take you to see Renjun."

"They're only cuts-" Jisung started, but Lucas dragged him to his feet.

"Do you need him anymore, Jaemin?" Lucas asked.

"He's been a big help, but sure hyung, take him." Jaemin waved goodbye as he deftly threaded his needle.

* * *

"Renjun-ah," Lucas entered the room. "I brought your honey lemon."

There were sheets of paper covering every spare inch of the desk so that there was barely any space for Renjun to put his elbows, but he was scribbling furiously on a piece of parchment, muttering all the while to himself.

He waved a distracted hand at Lucas to direct him to set the cup down, not even acknowledging his presence.

"Renjun," Lucas coughed loudly. "You got anything here for Jisung?" he pushed Jisung's hand under Renjun's nose.

"Last one on the right." Renjun muttered, gesturing vaguely in the direction of one of his cabinets.

"What are we looking for?" Lucas opened the drawer.

Renjun finally glanced up, looking annoyed. "It's a bottle labeled ointment. Just dab it on your hands. Bind 'em later,"

Lucas scooted around until he found the right one. He helped Jisung smear it on the cuts on his hands. It felt cooling and soothed the pain.

"Dunk your hands in hot water before you bind them," Renjun immediately went back to his ferocious scribbling.

Lucas put a finger to his lips and guided Jisung out of the room.

As they were heading along the corridors, Chenle's head popped. "Hey hyung! Hi, Jisung!"

"Chenle, here's your hot chocolate." Lucas handed it to him. "Do you have anything for Jisung to do in your study?"

"Oh yeah, sure." Chenle beckoned to Jisung.

* * *

"Here's a bowl of hot water for you to dunk your hands in," Chenle brought it to him and made him sit at the sofa.

"Thanks," Jisung soaked his hands in it as he watched Chenle come over and sit next to him with an ipad in his hands.

"You don't have to keep me company-"

"Oh no, this is work!" Chenle showed him pictures of several cute puppies. "Which one should I take in?"

"Do you want the cutest one or something?"

"Yes!" Chenle jabbed at a picture of a white-ish grey coloured poodle. "Love that!"

"Nah, what about that one?" Jisung nodded at a picture of a brown-furred maltese.

"Eh. I don't really want a pure colour one."

Jisung scanned the display. "I like that one," He jerked his head at an adorable picture of a fluffy caramel-coloured dog.

"What breed is it?"

"Maltipoo," Chenle said immediately. "Yeah, I think it's super cute. Plus, it's likely to be smart too; with the poodle genes,"

"Are poodles that smart?"

"Yeah." Chenle enlarged the picture, "This one looks more like a maltese than a poodle though. Oh look, it has white socks!"

Jisung looked. "There's also a streak of white fur on its chest."

"It's too cute!" Chenle squealed.

He pressed some things on the ipad. "Okay, I just sent it to Mark-hyung! He'll help me order!" he said happily.

"Why can't you order yourself?"

Chenle gave him a look. "You haven't heard Mark-hyung speak yet, have you? He's so convincing and charismatic whenever he's dealing with sales. He can always charm anyone into giving him what he wants."

"Cool."

* * *

Jisung was flicking through a comic book when Jeno looked at his watch and jumped up from the armchair he was sitting on. "Yo, we're gonna be late!"

"What?" Chenle demanded, lifting his head drowsily from the couch where he had curled up to take a nap.

"The meeting! For everyone to meet Jisung!" Jeno tugged at Jaemin's arm, the latter's head lolling about sleepily as he was roused from his nap. "WHat?"

"Come on, guys!" Jeno shook Renjun to wake him up and dragged Jaemin to his feet. "Can't believe we all forgot; we need to change!"

"Wait, say that again." Chenle sat up, coming fully awake now.

"There's a meeting this afternoon to meet Jisung in five minutes! Hurry!"

Five minutes later, the members of Dream were knocking on the door of the meeting room Jisung had seen all seventeen people in, looking a little dishevelled and messy.

"Come on in!"

They entered, politely bowing to everyone else in the room and taking their seats on two couches. Jisung squished up between Chenle and Renjun as Jeno and Jaemin sat down next to Haechan, who leaned over to talk to them. Kun was sitting at the farthest corner of the room, holding a clipboard and looking eagerly around, waiting for the meeting to start. Jungwoo perched decorously in the armchair at Taeyong's side, pen and paper poised to take notes. He smiled brightly at Jisung when he saw him and nudged Lucas in the ribs. Lucas had his head on his hand and his head kept drooping as he let out huge yawns so Jungwoo or the unfamiliar guy next to him had to keep elbowing him every few seconds. Yuta and Johnny were engaged in a fiery debate and kept raising their voices enthusiastically before realising there were other people in the room and lowering them to a whisper again. Taeil snoozed in a comfortable chair and Mark was snoring next to him.

Taeyong arranged his papers and looked expectantly at Jungwoo.

"We're just waiting for Doyoung-hyung and Jaehyun-hyung," Jungwoo patted Lucas' shoulder and he woke up with a start. Jungwoo touched his ear, "Hyung, where are you?"

He listened for a while. "They're on their way. Doyoung-hyung requires help to walk, apparently."

At his words, Taeyong looked sharply at Renjun. "There's no permanent damage, hyung." Renjun reassured him, "Prone to dizziness and nausea for a while, but nothing he shouldn't recover from."

At that moment, the door opened and Doyoung and Jaehyun appeared, the latter supporting the former as he hobbled to a couch, Jaehyun sending a smile Jisung's way.

Taeyong waited for them to sit down before speaking. "Good, now that we're all here, we can start. So our managers want everyone to meet Jisung- Yes, Kun?"

"Is he going to join Dream?"

"We're still going through checks, but it's most likely he'll have to go back to the training centre." Taeyong waved Jaehyun to sit down. "I'll talk to you later. Everyone, please go around in a circle and introduce yourselves as well as what area you specialise in. Jungwoo, you go first."

"I'm the secretary for everyone in this building." Jungwoo smiled gently at Jisung and nudged Lucas. "Xuxi, your turn."

"I'm the cook." Lucas yawned.

"I'm Sicheng," The guy next to him introduced himself. His dark hair stuck up in spikes and was held back by a red bandana. He had very high cheekbones which overshadowed his mouth and made his thin lips look even thinner as they curved in a welcoming smile. "I'm a botanist. Plants." He gestured at his muddy pants by way of explanation.

"Winwin, how many times have we told you to clean up before you come down here?" Kun called. "I just wiped the chairs!"

There was a general ripple of laughter and Winwin shrugged by way of apology.

"I'm an artist." Haechan said amiably and looked at Jaemin, who was sitting next to him.

Jaemin shrugged. "I'm a fashion designer."

"I'm a sculptor." Jeno tapped the armchair Taeil was sleeping in. "Hyung?"

"Interior design." Taeil murmured sleepily.

"Advertising/ marketing." Mark muttered without opening his eyes.

"I just do everything else." Kun called, busy scribbling down on a piece of paper.

"I do music." Doyoung winced slightly.

"I'm a linguist," Jaehyun looked over at Doyoung with concern.

"I'm the mechanic." Yuta said and Johnny followed after, "I'm the computer guy."

"I'm a lapidarist." Ten folded his fingers together. "Jewels," he added, when Jisung looked confused.

"I'm a doctor," Renjun yawned.

"I'm a zoologist, I think." Chenle considered, "Uh, is that the word?"

Taeyong cleared his throat. "I handle everything from here to the main branch. You need to remember to clear things with me so that I can get permission from the people "up there". Any new projects, the slightest deviation from protocol, the slightest thing at all, just go through Jungwoo and he'll ask me. Got it?"

Jisung nodded hurriedly.

"I think for now you're not allowed to leave the building without a guide." Taeyong sent a reproachful look Jaehyun's way. "Just stay inside and help out wherever you can."

"Like me." Kun nodded at Jisung.

Jisung nodded back. "What about my school work?"

"Sheesh!" Chenle snorted. "I gave up on school work a long time ago!"

"If you want to do school work during your breaks, no one will stop you." Taeyong informed him. "You can stay up late at night to do your work and you can attend school. And Chenle, you should finish your education," he finished reprovingly.

"I'm Chinese and you want me to study even more Korean?" Chenle shook his head vigorously.

"Might improve your bad Korean." Taeyong teased.

"You're Chinese?" Jisung whispered incredulously.

"You seriously think Chenle is a Korean name? My korean name is Jong Jin Rak, but no one calls me that."

"Jinrakjinrakjinrakjinrakjinrakjinrak." Jeno rattled off under his breath and Chenle threw his shoe at him.

"Chenle!" Taeil scolded as the room burst into laughter.

"Anyway," Taeyong guided them back to seriousness, "If you have any questions, just go to any member's study and he'll provide you with a phone to call Jungwoo and ask. Jungwoo's already signed you into the system-?" he looked questioningly at Chenle and was answered with a nod. "Then you'll be able to go anywhere around the building. You'll be provided with a earpiece so the other members can contact you when and if they need your help. Jungwoo will show you the schedule later."

Jisung nodded.

* * *

 **im preparing for a national comps right now, so i won't upload so often. thanks for all the positive comments and keep leaving more!**

 **luv you guys!**

 **luv_wrestlin_fan_gurl**


	11. Chapter 11

**hi guys, so this isn't a chapter but it's an update on how this fic is going. thank you everyone who's been here from the start and when i started this, i never imagined how big it would get**. **i kinda just launch into fics without any thought process and kinda make it up along the way, so my ideas kinda get messed up. i'm not going to delete this fic because i worked way too hard on it, but i will reinvent it for my ideas to make sense. to give you a rough overview, basically special businessman in korea carry the same weight as kpop idols and jisung is an obsessed fan who's dream is to one day become a businessman as well. i really hope for your support and i'm still trying to figure things out but i'll change stuff from the first chapter, so if you want to know what's going on, i think you should read again from the beginning, but i can't change everything at once, so i'll add an edit at the bottom of every chapter once i'm done, so if you don't see the edit, i'm probably not done. so far, i've only done chapter 1 but i'm working on this. please give me ideas on how to get jisung into nct and give me your support.**

 **luv you guys!**

 **luv_wrestlin_fan_gurl**


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